For the first twenty years of its existence, the Charlottesville Downtown Mall had no public roads for motorized vehicles to cross the bricks laid down for pedestrian-only traffic on Main Street.
That changed in 1996 when 2nd Street NW was opened up to one-way traffic to allow vehicles to drop people off at the newly opened Regal Cinema and the Charlottesville Ice Park. Ten years later, the City Council agreed to open up 4th Street East to allow traffic to flow in the other direction.
The Downtown Mall turns 50 this July and both crossings will be closed in the weeks leading up to the official anniversary on July 3 in order to make long-planned repairs.
“This project includes the removal and replacement of existing brick and granite pavers, along with concrete repairs and storm drain upgrades at both intersections,” reads an information release sent out on March 24. “These improvements are part of the City’s ongoing efforts to maintain safe, accessible, and well-functioning public spaces downtown.”
On April 1, both crossings were closed at the same time to minimize disruption and to ensure the crossings are open by the anniversary. The expected time of completion is June 12 but could open sooner if the work is finished early.
The city’s Public Utilities Division will be replacing a drop inlet at the northwest corner of the road at the same time.
“Coordination between the Contractor and City will be important to ensure that this can be done without delaying the project,” reads a section of an invitation for bid that was issued three times until a contract was awarded.
The current design for the crossings dates back to a 2009 renovation of the mall that had a cost estimate of $7.5 million.
The original design for the Mall by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin had not envisioned any crossings at all but the ones engineered by the now-defunct firm MMM Design were not durable enough to withstand frequent traffic. Council discussed that matter in 2014 as I reported at the time for Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Council got a briefing at work session on March 2.
“There’s been a lot of repairs over many, many years with some patching going on,” said Brenda Kelley, the city staff person charged with being the manager of the Downtown Mall. “So there’s plans completed and we’ve had some challenges with bidding this project.”
The project was first advertised in December but no one responded to the first bid. A second bid was issued in January but only one proposal was received and the $1,832,405 price exceeded the budget.
The city tried again in February and got three proposals including the low-bid of $845,221 from Oak Valley Landscape and Hardscapes of Mechanicsville.
The closure will lead to a delay for the trolley-style bus that travels between the Downtown Mall and the University of Virginia. After serving Midway Manor, the vehicle will turn left onto Water Street before turning right onto McIntire to turn right once more onto Market Street.
“Riders should plan for potential delays of up to approximately five minutes,” reads the release.
How will the closings affect you? Let me know in the comments.
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things. Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the March 30, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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