Alexandria's Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project Taking Shape: See Key Updates

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A massive undertaking to update waterfront infrastructure to address flooding and provide more public amenities is getting closer to construction in Alexandria.

Briefings to update city officials on the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project have kicked off, starting with the Waterfront Commission on Tuesday. The briefings, scheduled between mid-April and June, are providing project design updates for Point Lumley Park, Waterfront Park, the pump station, and lower King Street pedestrian improvements.

The Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project has been more than a decade in the making, and it is currently in the design phase. It is aiming to address three types of flooding that affect Old Town on the Potomac River — the river overtopping the banks regularly, an old sewer system that doesn't have capacity to handle intense rain storms, and backflow of the river outfalls.

"We have sort of a trifecta of problems that we're trying to solve," Matt Landes, project manager for the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project, told Patch. "When we have river elevations in excess of four feet, we start to actually see our parks, our streets, our businesses and homes impacted by flooding."

Landes said the overtopping of the river happens approximately 40 days each year. The severity of flooding varies, but he says the frequency is getting worse. That presents both health and sanitation issues as well as restrictions to waterfront access.

To address flooding from the river overflowing, Landes said the city needs to address the elevation of the shoreline with bulkhead or shoreline protection.

"That goal to increase that riverine protection elevation very consistently but also invest in park amenities and improvements would require us to have some pump stations, so that water instead of by flowing by gravity to the river, would actually actively be pumped," said Landes. "Every drop of rain that fell in this watershed that would utilize our existing system would actually now go through a new system with pump stations."

The project area is between Point Lumley Park and the Chart House and Thompsons Alley bulkhead, while Founders Park is targeted as a construction staging area. Due to cost constraints, the team is proposing a single pump station located at the edge of Waterfront Park. The 2014 Waterfront Plan, an earlier planning phase of the project, had envisioned two pump stations.

"We actually believe we have less overall impact by having a single station and one fewer assets to have to maintain. So our life cycle costs will be much lower," said Landes.

As for the pump station location along Waterfront Park, some business owners have expressed concerns about the waterfront view impacts. Some called for an alternative pump station location at an adjacent building, which would require demolishment. Landes noted demolishing the existing building could cause slower construction and costs to address foundation and unstable soil risks for the building next door. In addition, the city would have to extend underground storm sewer pipes, impacting more residential and business areas.

The team noted the pump station will provide needed gender-neutral bathrooms for park visitors, power supply for outdoor events to replace noisy generators, and storage space for staging events.

Along with reducing flooding and improve shoreline infrastructure, the project's goals are to improve public accessibility and amenities and meet goals of the small area plan for the waterfront. Conceptual plans call for a promenade along the waterfront and new plaza and open space. The city could also look to make the foot of Prince Street a pedestrian zone, similar to nearby blocks of King Street and The Strand.

"We would actually be dramatically increasing our public area for programmable space, open passive space for programs and events and recreation," said Landes. "About half of Point Lumley right now is a gravel parking lot."

The Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project is expected to go to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council for development special use permit review in fall 2026. That would allow for construction to begin in late 2026 or early 2027.

The current project budget stands at $145 million. In this year's budget process, an additional $40 million was requested for the team's preferred concept for replacing much of the bulkhead along the shoreline at Point Lumley Park and Waterfront Park. At Waterfront Park, that would transition into a flood wall tying into existing infrastructure on the north side of the waterfront.

Upcoming briefings on the project will be:

• Wednesday, May 7, 7 p.m.: Board of Architectural Review, concept review of Point Lumley design
• Tuesday, May 13, 7 p.m.: Alexandria City Council Legislative Meeting, update only, no City Council action
• Thursday, May 15, 7 p.m.: Park and Recreation Commission Meeting, project update
• Tuesday, May 20, 7:30 a.m.: : Waterfront Commission Meeting, project update
• Wednesday, June 4, 7 p.m.: Board of Architectural Review, concept review of Waterfront Park design update, Pump Station design update and lower King Street pedestrian improvements design update

The latest briefing to the Waterfront Commission includes draft renderings of waterfront infrastructure and amenities. Final concepts have not been approved.

Residents can find more details about the project and upcoming briefings online.