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Winston-Salem Will Test In-Street Dining For Downtown Restaurants

Sidewalk dining in downtown Winston-Salem. PAUL GARBER/WFDD

The city of Winston-Salem has scheduled a trial run for in-street dining on downtown streets. 

The city has teamed up with the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership to test a proposal that would close portions of downtown streets on weekend nights. This would allow restaurants to set up tables in the street and serve more patrons within the state's Phase 2 restrictions.

Ken Millett is the city's director of business inclusion and advancement. Millett says in a news release that the July 25th trial run will allow officials to look at the benefits to restaurants, as well as how it would impact other businesses, residents, and people traveling through downtown.

The Downtown Partnership will be responsible for providing private staffing to monitor social distancing and arranging for off-duty police officers to ensure safety. 

If the test is deemed successful, the city would implement street closures on additional weekends and consider closing more downtown blocks on a case-by-case basis.  

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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