The Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville began circulating a petition last week among Downtown Mall business owners who would like to see a cross-street opened to pedestrian traffic.
"Customers can't navigate from the north to south side of the Mall," said Alaina Tucker, Downtown Business Association intern and fourth-year College student.
The Downtown Business Association has suggested that 4th or 5th streets be opened to vehicular traffic because current traffic patterns do not allow sufficient access to businesses on the Mall.
"We are working on a petition for it to see how much support there is in the community," Tucker said. "We collected about 40 signatures in the last week."
The petition does not spell out a specific solution to the traffic solution.
The opening of a cross-street "might be temporary or it might be permanent," Tucker said.
A previous through-street had been closed because of construction on the east end of the Mall.
"There is a sense that there is a traffic loss by construction by City Hall," said Larry Banner, Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce vice president.
This would not be the first vehicular crossing of the Mall.
A previous vehicular crossing at 2nd Street "had not diminished pedestrian access to the mall and likely increased traffic on the mall," Banner said.
There has been little opposition thus far to the proposal.
"You know I don't think that I'm opposed to it," Marla Cantor, owner of Cha Cha's, said. "Particularly now people can not get around to the Water Street retailers."
Satyendra S. Huja, a University faculty member, was responsible for the creation of the vehicle-free mall during his previous tenure as Charlottesville City Manager.
The mall is "probably one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the nation, all in all," Banner said. "People look to us as an example"
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