Georgetown will temporarily widen some of its sidewalks this weekend, which is parents weekend for Georgetown, American, and George Washington Universities. It’s a different way to use space that’s typically set aside for curbside parking, and it’s seen a lot of prior success.

Georgetown BID will widen the sidewalks along M Street NW, between Wisconsin and 33rd, on October 17th and 18th. That area is where Georgetown’s foot traffic is most concentrated and its sidewalks are narrowest, typically between six and eight feet wide with a few pinch points that are four feet wide.

To date, Georgetown BID has tried temporary sidewalk widening on nearly every block of M Street in Georgetown. One of the most successful go-rounds was during the Cherry Blossom Festival in mid-April, where it did so along M Street between 29th and 31st Streets. That came on the heels of success with wider sidewalks during last October’s Georgetown University’s Family Weekend, another event that attracts a lot of people on foot.

M Street during April’s sidewalk widening. Image from Georgetown BID, base image from Google Maps.

Each time it widened Georgetown’s sidewalks, the BID “borrowed” about 50 parking spots from along M Street and used the space to add onto existing sidewalks. The change lasted for two days, with the work happening before and after the hours that see peak business and foot traffic to minimize traffic disruptions. The BID also made sure to accommodate local businesses that still needed the space for loading and unloading.

Finally, to ensure there was no net loss of parking spaces, nearby garages worked with the BID and offered lower rates than normal. For the temporary sidewalk widening happening this weekend, drivers can get $5 all-day parking at the PMI garage (3307 M St. NW) Saturday and Sunday, and the garage at Georgetown Park (1080 Wisconsin Avenue, NW) will offer $10 all-day parking (online only!).

The experiments have been illustrative, showing that while the sidewalks were still busy during much of the day, the existing sidewalks were capable of handling the volume of people on foot. Between Wisconsin and 33rd Street, however, pedestrians on M Street frequently push the limit of sidewalk capacity.

Pictures from Cherry Blossom weekend

Georgetown BID employees took a number of photos at the ground level when they widened the sidewalks for the Cherry Blossom festival:

People walking. Image from Georgetown BID.

Georgetown BID.

They even got some from above:

Georgetown BID.

To the BID’s surprise, a satellite collecting new images for Google Maps and Google Earth captured the whole thing from the sky:

The wider M Street sidewalk in its entirety, from 31st Street to 29th Street. Image from Google Maps.

The picture was most likely taken on Saturday morning at about 9 AM based on the shadows. Nobody expected to be able to see the entirety of the experiment in one shot.

Georgetown BID hopes to use this setup on many more weekends going forward, generally whenever there is good weather between April and November. If you’re able to walk through this weekend, the BID is eager for feedback.

Will Handsfield is the transportation director for the Georgetown Business Improvement District, and has worked on transportation projects in Los Angeles, Denver, and the metropolitan Washington region. Will bike commutes and lives with his wife and three children in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Capitol Hill.