The Alexandria City Council unanimously closes King Street’s 200 block to traffic, enhancing the popular area for pedestrians.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Alexandria City Council on Saturday unanimously approved closing the 200 block of King Street to vehicular traffic.
The neighborhood is well known in the DMV and beyond for its shops, restaurants, boutiques and museums.
The closure – which comes after a pilot program – will go into effect immediately.
During Saturday’s city meeting, council members noted residents’ concerns about local parking, noise, crowds, and weekend disturbances.
Claire Scarda, who said she lives on Prince Street, was the only person who spoke during the public hearing session of the council meeting to voice her concerns regarding the subject.
“Saturday night is always our challenging evenings. There are problems that have been created with parking. Problems with access to people’s homes. Problems with the carnival atmosphere that’s being created and I don’t think that’s what we want to encourage in this section of the city. And we’re looking to you to support us and maintain the lovely neighborhood that we have,” said Scarda.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins reassured Scarda that the city is looking into solutions.
“I think we are all in alignment that in order, if this moves forward, in order to make this contribute to our quality of life and vibrancy of our residents and businesses there’s more work to do with the aesthetics, engineering, enforcement, the noise, so we are in alignment with you there,” said the Mayor.
Councilman John Chapman said council will look into residential parking and work with police to enhance patrols in the area.
The area near the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront already featured a number of streets closed to traffic.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city temporarily closed the 100 block of King Street, which city officials say was “well received.”
In October 2021, the city council permanently closed the block.
“During the pandemic when people couldn’t eat inside they opened a lot of outside dining and people really enjoyed it. So I think it makes sense that it stuck,” said Alexandria resident Dianne Stone.
In 2022, the unit block of King Street was also permanently closed.
Since then, the city has made a number of improvements in the neighborhood, including installing platforms along the walkways to accommodate outdoor dining, tree lighting and street lights, and creating new crosswalks.
Raj Vig, manager at the Warehouse restaurant on King Street, said these changes have been good for business.
“All the patios are full, and people are enjoying Old Town. That’s what we are famous for,” said Vig.
Vig also voiced concerns however, about loud music, the need for more police, and suggested bikes and scooters also be prohibited from the area.
The newest closure eliminates 16 parking spaces, but city officials are quick to point out that public parking garages are within easy walking distance of the downtown area. One example is the Market Square parking garage on Fairfax Street just before vehicular traffic is cut off on King Street. Parking at the garage is $5 max after 5 p.m. and is open until the early morning on weekends.