Alexandria Canal Remains To Be Relocated, Prompting Road Closures

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Following the discovery of Alexandria Canal remains at a development site, the City of Alexandria said parts will be temporarily relocated. That will require road closures in the coming days.

City staff and developer Carr Properties are collaborating to relocate the historic Alexandria Canal stones found at 425 Montgomery Street, where an office-to-residential conversion is underway. Excavations have revealed almost an entire length of the north wall of a lock and basin, part of the south wall, and the lock and basin's floor. The remains were preserved under fill and previous development.

The stones will be temporarily relocated to Montgomery Park. They will ultimately be placed along the Potomac River as part of the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project.

The relocation schedule will be weather dependent. During the relocation, N. Royal Street between First Street and Montgomery Street may be closed to vehicles, parking, pedestrians and cyclists, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Through traffic will be detoured around Montgomery Park along First Street, N Fairfax Street and Montgomery Street. Signage will direct pedestrians to safe routes and crosswalks within the work zone.

The tentative schedule for road closures is:

• Friday, Feb. 21
• Monday, Feb. 24, through Friday, Feb. 28
• Monday, March 3, through Friday, March 7

The Alexandria Canal dates back to 1845, when it was a route for trade and navigation from the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in Georgetown. Historic maps confirmed a fourth lock and third basin of the Alexandria Canal were present in the 900 block of North Pitt Street. The locks at the south end of the canal raised and lowered boats by about 40 feet, according to the city. The canal was abandoned in 1886 when railroad transportation took over.

The Alexandria Archaeological Protection Code requires an archaeological monitoring plan with an archaeologist on site to monitor ground disturbances. Carr Properties had recruited professional archaeologists from Thunderbird Archeology on the plan. A one-day public viewing of the canal remains was held on Jan. 19.