On any given morning if I park my car next to the Dolci Gelati coffee shop on the 100 block of North Fairfax Street, most of the parking spaces are guaranteed to be filled with city vehicles. It appears that the city staff wants ready access to their vehicles (to the detriment of the general public), rather than parking in their designated parking area under City Hall. I have monitored this situation over a long period of time, and it hasn’t gotten any better.
This can only be topped off by an even more tragic situation up at the King Street Metro parking lot where the demise of 66 parking spaces will be given way to a bus queuing operation. There will still be metered parking spaces on the east side of Diagonal Road. However Metro trucks have already started to utilize those spaces even those marked specifically for the handicapped. (See photograph.)
Although it is no secret that parking in Old Town is at a premium; parking reductions are freely and routinely granted for every new development. However, with those projected losses coupled with other parking reductions, the city has yet to offer any innovative parking solutions. The City Council should consider parking to be a strategic objective which is not to be waivered away, but to be dealt with for the good of business and the citizens. Step up to the plate Alexandria!
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria