After a nearly yearlong trial, another section of King Street in Old Town Alexandria near the waterfront will now be permanently closed to vehicle traffic.
The 100 block of King Street was already closed, and now the 200 block is open only to pedestrian traffic after a 7-0 vote over the weekend by the Alexandria City Council.
Megan Bird, who works in the area, is happy about the decision.
“I think it’s great, I know at my office we come out here a lot for lunch, out here with friends in the evening, on the weekends. I like it. I think it’s nice for business,” she said.
“It’s also good to be able to walk through. We have a lot of traffic coming through, and it’s nice to be able to not have to worry about the cars,” Bird added.
Another man who works in the area and likes having the street closed to cars is Richard, who only gave WTOP his first name.
“The way they did it, it’s more safer,” he said. “They keep the inner traffic from coming through here, because you have a whole lot of pedestrians coming through here.”
Before the city council voted unanimously Saturday to close off the area, Claire Skarda, who lives on Prince Street, pleaded with the council to stay on top of some of the issues she says the closure has created.
“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,” Skarda said.
According to a city survey of people who live in the area, 87% of locals approve of the car-free zone, and 12 of 16 businesses most directly affected are also in favor.
A city council report on traffic impacts also concluded that “dedicating more space for people walking, relative to vehicles along these three blocks of King Street, is an equitable allocation of public right-of-way.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
