Get your walking shoes on, because the Alexandria City Council voted Saturday to shut down the 200 block of King Street this holiday season, as well as next spring and summer.
The unanimous vote was made without discussion, and the closure will happen in two phases. The 200 block will first close from Nov. 22 to Jan. 6, and the second phase is from March 14 to Sept. 30.
The move eliminates vehicles next door to City Hall’s Market Square (301 King Street) all the way down to the waterfront.
“There remains pent-up demand for properly programmed public spaces in this area,” Mayor Justin Wilson and Council Member John Taylor Chapman wrote in a memo, “and an extension of the King Street Pedestrian Zone into the 200-block of King has been suggested by residents and business owners as a way to enhance the appeal of our ‘Main Street.'”
Council approved a pilot shutting down the 100 block of King Street to car traffic in 2020 to help small businesses with outdoor seating during the pandemic, and the unit blocks of King Street and Strand Street were later added.
A survey of community feedback on the closure of the unit and 100 blocks found that 91% (of 1,853 survey respondents) rated the pedestrian zone as very positive. Council approved the permanent pedestrianization of King Street in 2021, and the unit and 100 blocks the following year.
The 200 block was most recently shut down at the 2023 Scottish Christmas Walk Parade. Nearly half of the street parking on the block is taken up by a parklet rented for outdoor dining by The Warehouse restaurant (214 King Street).
Some business owners and employees working in the 200 block said that the move will result in less parking and accessibility.
