The City of Alexandria said a survey collecting feedback on the new expanded King Street pedestrian zone showed overwhelmingly positive.
After the 100 block of King Street was permanently converted into a pedestrian zone last year, the program was extended via pilot into the unit block of King Street — the one closest to the waterfront — and an adjacent stretch of road called The Strand.
A pilot project to convert the unit block of King Street — the part closest to the waterfront — into a pedestrian-only zone has been extended for another two months.
The pilot started over Memorial Day weekend and was scheduled to shut down after Labor Day, but Alexandria Transportation and Environmental Services announced on Twitter that the pilot was being extended to Nov. 20.
As the city approaches the end of a pilot program that saw the waterfront block of King Street converted into a pedestrian zone, the City of Alexandria is looking for public feedback on the pilot.
The conversion of the unit block of King Street (the start of the street east of Union Street) and the Strand started on Memorial Day weekend and is scheduled to run through Labor Day weekend early next month.
Alexandria’s King Street pedestrian zone initiative is getting a boost this weekend as the zone’s size will double for the next few months.
The pilot was approved by the City Council in April and will run from this Friday, May 27, through Monday Sept. 5 — Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Some changes could be coming to the King Street pedestrian zone to make the block’s change a little more permanent.
The Board of Architectural Review is scheduled to review a certificate of appropriateness for new bollards at either end of 100 block of King Street at the Board’s Thursday (May 5) meeting. The use of bollards was already approved in January, but the type approved in January was not rated for withstanding vehicle crashes, so a new type needs to be approved for locations like the 100 block where they’re designed to block vehicles.
Updated 7:45 p.m. — Christopher Ziemann, division chief for Department of Transportation & Environmental Services, said in an email:
What City Council approved last night was not the pedestrian zone directly. This requires an ordinance change, which requires a public hearing. That Council approved last night was the first reading of the item and to set it for public hearing on April 23. On the 23rd, there will be a public hearing on the topic, which will most likely involve a presentation, discussion, questions and public comments.
The pedestrian zone on the 100 block of King Street has been a hit, so much so that the city is looking to expand the program to the unit block, which prompts the question: what should be the ultimate extent of the pedestrian zone project?
Last year, the City Council voted unanimously to make the closure on the 100 block permanent. The city is also taking a look at ways to make the 100 block’s pedestrian zone “look” more permanent. A new proposal going to the Planning Commission and City Council in April will put a similar pilot project into effect for the end of King Street and The Strand by the waterfront.
New city documents outline plans to close the end of King Street until at least November.
The closure of the unit block of King Street — the very end by the waterfront — to vehicle traffic is docketed for review at a Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, April 7.
With the City of Alexandria closing off the 100 block of King Street for good, it’s looking to make some permanent additions to the street to signal that it’s closed to car traffic.
The city is applying to the Board of Architectural Review at the Wednesday, Jan. 5, meeting for approval of traffic-blocking bollards that will close off the ends of the 100 block of King Street. The city will be using the same type of bollards already in place along the Waterfront.
It was barely a footnote in the six-hour City Council meeting, most of which was consumed with a tense discussion on School Resource Officers, but towards the end City Council meeting last night the group expressed widespread support for permanently making the 100 block of King Street a pedestrian zone.
The closure of the 100 block of King Street into a pedestrian zone was an idea that Mayor Justin Wilson and City Councilman John Chapman spearheaded before the pandemic, but was fast-tracked to benefit local restaurants and businesses that needed the outdoor space for social distancing. The closure has been popular with local businesses and the community at large, a survey put out by the city indicated.
Next month, the City Council is set to review plans that could make the pedestrianization of the 100 block of King Street a permanent feature.
Since last spring, one of the blocks of King Street closest to the Waterfront, between Lee and Union streets, has been closed to vehicle traffic. The streetscape around businesses like Pop’s Old Fashion Ice Cream and Paper Source is a pedestrian zone, and local restaurants have outdoor dining areas.
