Charleston Outdoor Dining weekends set to begin

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Coinciding with the kick-off of the 2024 Live on the Levee season, the City of Charleston will also start this year’s outdoor dining weekends.

According to city officials, Outdoor dining will start Friday, May 24, and run through the weekend of Aug. 9-11, which is the same weekend as the final Live on the Levee.

Each week, Capitol Street will close from Kanawha Boulevard to Lee Street starting at 3 p.m. Friday through 11 p.m. Sunday. However, due to the holiday weekend, this week the closure will remain in place through 11 p.m. Monday, May 27.

For parking during outdoor dining, all vehicles must be removed from metered parking spaces and loading zones along the closed area of Capitol Street before the closure goes into effect at 3 p.m.

Since Friday, May 24, will also include a fireworks show to kick off Live on the Levee and celebrate Memorial Day. This will mean some extra road closures throughout the afternoon and evening.

Here’s when each closure is set to take place on Friday, May 24:

• 12 p.m . – Kanawha Boulevard will close from Court Street to Capitol Street. Unit blocks of Court Laidley and Summers Streets will be accessible to local traffic.
• 3 p.m. – The closure of Kanawha Boulevard will extend from Court Street to Hale Street, and Capitol Street will close from Kanawha Boulevard to Lee Street. Quarrier and Virginia Streets will remain open.
• 6 p.m. – The closure of Kanawha Boulevard will extend from Court Street to Morris Street and remain closed until after the fireworks.
• 7 p.m. – Porter Road and MacCorkle Avenue will close to westbound traffic; MacCorkle Avenue and U.S. 119 will close to eastbound traffic; and Thayer Street and MacCorkle Avenue will close to eastbound traffic. All of these closures will remain in place until after the fireworks.
• 9 p.m. – Grosscup Road at Bridge and Louden Heights Road and the Southside Bridge will close. The roads will remain closed until after the fireworks.

City officials say there will be two additional weekends with a modified outdoor dining schedule.

During the weekend of FestivALL, June 22-24, Capitol Street will close from Kanawha Boulevard to Virginia Street for outdoor dining, but Capitol Street from Virginia Street to Lee Street will be closed for FestivALL, and will not participate in outdoor dining.

Then, during the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta, Capitol Street will close from Kanawha Boulevard to Virginia Street at 7 a.m. Tuesday, July 2 for Regatta preparations. The closure will extend to Lee Street for outdoor dining starting Wednesday, July 3, and remain in place through Sunday, July 7 at 11 p.m.

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