Portsmouth wants to spruce up parts of High Street it says are primed for redevelopment
Portsmouth is seeking state funding for a project that would spruce up its downtown business corridor to better accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians.
City leaders are also hoping the project will help revitalize an underdeveloped area just west of downtown.
The project would add scenic streetscaping, high-visibility crosswalks and sidewalk upgrades to a 1.3-mile stretch of High Street, between Chestnut Street and the Martin Luther King Expressway. Street lanes will be reduced from four lanes to two to accommodate raised medians and on-street bicycle lanes.
Once completed, Old Towne Portsmouth will connect to a corridor that the city says is primed for mixed-use redevelopment. The section, which the city has labeled the innovation district, includes the High Street, County Street and London Boulevard corridors. City Council members approved the district rezoning in 2020.
Carl Jackson, the city’s transportation planning manager, said the innovation district was created “to regenerate an underperforming area into a desirable location for innovative and creative companies and workers.”
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, members voted to allow city staff to apply for $10.69 million in funding from a Virginia Department of Transportation program to fully cover the project. The program, named SMART SCALE, scores local and regional transportation projects across the state based on how well they increase access and safety and reduce congestion as well as the economic and environmental impacts.
If awarded state funding, the project would be granted funds for the 2025-26 fiscal year. A timeline of construction is not yet known.
Jackson said it’s a project listed on the city’s bicycle and pedestrian plan as it will become an important addition to the regional South Hampton Roads Trail that connects Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
