Parking changes will be coming to Russell Road near Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School after action by the Traffic and Parking Board Monday.
The Traffic and Parking Board voted 5-2 to remove 20 parking spaces in several blocks of Russell Road. Board Member Dane Lauritzen made the motion to recommend more parking space removals than city staff had proposed. Staff’s proposal would have resulted in a net loss of two parking spaces.
A contentious proposal to remove on-street parking between the 400 and 800 blocks of Russell Road is heading to Alexandria’s Traffic and Parking Board tonight (Monday).
The recommendations would remove on-street parking in the area around Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School (600 Russell Road) and create “painted curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalk markings, and improved ADA curb ramps at six intersections on Russell Road, and a new pedestrian crossing at West Chapman Street.”
Amid parking challenges for residents and visitors in Old Town, the Traffic and Parking Board approved additional parking spaces yesterday (Monday).
The changes respond to concerns from several businesses about parking availability east of Washington Street in Old Town. One of the major factors was the City Hall and Market Square renovation project, which temporarily closed the 180-space Market Square Garage in early 2026 and requires construction staging areas on surrounding streets.
Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities (RPCA) has proposed the conversion of parking spaces to a pocket park in the Del Ray neighborhood.
The proposed pocket park would be located on a current parking island at 3000 Fulton Street at the Clifford and Commonwealth Avenues intersection. The parking island provides space for about five to six standard passenger vehicles.
The appeal of the Traffic and Parking Board’s February decision on the Braddock Road redesign in the Rosemont and Del Ray neighborhoods is heading to City Council Saturday (May 16).
Four petitions against the redesign came from residents living along the Braddock Road corridor, as well as Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and Community Praise Church on W. Braddock Road. Appellants are hoping City Council will overturn the board’s decision, which would remove parking on Braddock Road between Mount Vernon Avenue and Russell Road to add new bike lanes. According to a city memo, appellants are concerned that the loss of parking will affect access to homes and places of worship.
With the closure of the parking garage underneath City Hall, Alexandria is working on several creative solutions for a growing problem — parking in the heart of Old Town.
Alexandria City Council on Wednesday (April 29) approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposal to increase metered parking fees and parking ticket fines.
Without discussion, City Council approved raising parking meter rates from $1.75 to $2.75 and parking ticket fines from $40 to $55. The approvals were part of Parajon’s $979.1 million Fiscal year 2027 budget, which Council approved Tuesday night without a real estate tax increase.
Alexandria City Public Schools is asking the city for permission to use a temporary parking lot in Potomac Yard — once part of the former arena proposal — for school buses this summer.
ACPS filed a special use permit application with the city asking to temporarily use a 45,000-square-foot lot for three months at 3331 Exchange Avenue in the Potomac Yard neighborhood. The property was pitched in 2023 as a new $2 billion home for the Washington Wizards and Capitals before losing support in Alexandria and fizzling out with lawmakers in Richmond.
Alexandria City Council torpedoed City Manager Jim Parajon’s plan for paid metered parking on Sundays, but balanced a $726,000 shortfall by raising parking meter fees from $1.75 to $2.75 and parking ticket fines from $40 to $55.
Last week, City Council directed Parajon to consider a number of alternatives to his Sunday parking plan. After deliberation, a majority of members endorsed Option E at Tuesday night’s add/delete work session, as the final touches are being put on the city’s $977 million Fiscal Year 2027 Budget. The move will generate $1.1 million in funding — covering an approximately $726,000 shortfall from removing the Sunday parking fee proposal and adding about $329,000 to the city’s general fund.
Alexandria City Council has a full docket at its upcoming meeting Saturday as final budgetary decisions approach.
City Council will conduct a number of public hearings, including setting the real estate and personal property tax rates for the next fiscal year, additions and deletions to City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposed $977 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget, an increase to the stormwater utility fee, new parking fees and the addition of paid metered parking on Sundays.
A majority of Alexandria’s City Council won’t support City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposal for paid parking on Sundays, but the door to increasing parking meter rates and fines is still open.
City Council had first reading on a number of parking-related ordinances yesterday (Tuesday), which, if approved later this month, would increase parking meter rates and parking ticket fines and add paid parking to metered spots on Sundays.
