Which Parking Design Do You Like Better for The Redesign of Downtown Leesburg? (Winchester: closing)

[Caladium]

Well, the redesign for Leesburg has hit a controversy about parking.

The following was approved March 21:

- five street trees
- four of the 12 spaces remain (two at each end of King Street) for loading, parking or both
- widened sidewalks
- mid-block crosswalks
- nine street lights
- space for out door cafes

At a meeting the next day, several residents and local merchants protested. Two alternative plans were presented and apparently are being given some serious consideration due to the number of residents who seemed concerned about reducing parking in front of the stores in favor of wider sidewalks and room for outdoor cafes.

So.... what do you guys think? Does street parking matter or is the nearby parking garage adequate? Which plan do you like best? The plan above, or one of these alternates?

Alternative One:
- 11 of 12 spaces remain (two at each end) for loading, parking or both
- nine street lights
- street-print brick pattern for parking spaces
- mid-block crosswalk (with widened sidewalk adjacent)
- widened pedestrian intersections

Alternative Two:
- all 12 spaces and loading to remain
- street-print brick pattern for parking spaces
- nine street lights
- widened pedestrian intersections

[normie]

I don't like the second alternative at all. Sacrificing a crosswalk for an extra parking space? That's dumb.

I don't have much sympathy for the protestors. The issue has been discussed and debated for over a year. They had plenty of time to present these alternatives.

If I'd had my way, I would have made the whole thing a pedestrian mall.

[5stones]

If I'd had my way, I would have made the whole thing a pedestrian mall.

As an ex-Leesburg resident...I second this!

Close it off (like Charlottsville) more outdoor seating for cafe's etc...
Sat or Sun farmers market etc...

[stpickrell]

There needs to be some spaces for loading/unloading, otherwise every delivery driver is going to block off King/Market. One parking space is worth the crosswalks, etc., so if I had to choose one of the three, it'd be Alternative One.

As for a pedestrian mall a la Winchester, where would we have folks going for detours? You could in theory close off Market between Liberty/Wirt and Church but that would require rerouting onto Loudoun -- if folks are up in arms over a few parking spots imagine what closing King and/or Market would do!

Looking forward to the light/crosswalk at North though

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

You could in theory close off Market between Liberty/Wirt and Church but that would require rerouting onto Loudoun -- if folks are up in arms over a few parking spots imagine what closing King and/or Market would do!

LOL that would sure cause some local excitement!

Rerouting the traffic wouldn't be such a bad idea, actually. It would be rough at first but I think people would get used to it very quickly.

Whether it's a pedestrian mall a la Winchester or not, Leesburg should capitalize on King Street,. They need to stop thinking of it as a major street to drive through the area, but more as a destination. It could be a nice tourist attraction with historic buildings and outdoor cafes.

[5stones]

^ totally agree!

You can make the sidewalks bigger to accomadate tables etc... but really who wants to sit outside and eat with all the traffic noise and smell.... YUK!

King street was a mess 4 years ago...it could take almost 20 minutesto get from North Street to Edwards ferry with traffic and lights etc...

Totally blocking it off would really help Resturants and shopes, sometimes I wouldn't even go across the street to store that looked neat because it was such a hassel!

yes it would take some time to get used to going around....rerouting etc...BUT doesn't EVERYONE do that anyway? You sit in traffic at the light and curse your self for NOT going up one block on down etc to avoid it.

Make Church strret one way going East and Wirt one way going west. It's all over Europe and historic areas all over the US.
And yes, put in another parking garage.

I heard the Tally Ho closed, is that so? too bad that was a nice little place to take the kids.