Changes are coming to Boise’s ‘restaurant row’ — again.
8th St. between Main and Bannock Streets is a hub of Downtown Boise — a busy pedestrian corridor lined with restaurants, outdoor patios, and a few retail shops.
Now, the City of Boise plans to upgrade the stretch of street. It’s one of the only streets the city controls directly, instead of the Ada County Highway District.
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city closed the street to vehicle traffic to allow for expanded restaurant patios in the era of social distancing. The patios took over most of the sidewalk, and pedestrians moved to the street bed.
Now, with social distancing mostly a thing of the past, the private businesses will get to keep their expanded patios on the public sidewalk — and the street will see a revamp for permanent use by people on foot and bicycle.
The City of Boise said the license fee for the expanded patios has not increased from the pre-pandemic rate when the spaces were smaller.
The Boise City Council approved the changes in the fall of 2022, and put $600,000 toward the project. Before the pandemic, the city was reluctant to remove vehicles from the street despite the overwhelming popularity of the idea.