Monticello Avenue next to MacArthur Center mall re opens to all traffic between City Hall Avenue and Freemason Street at noon Friday.
While streets on the west and north sides of the mall have been shut down for stretches of time, roads on the east side have not been affected.
Karen Winters, MacAr-thur marketing director, said the mall has fielded few customer complaints about access.
"The nice thing for us is you can come straight off the interstate and straight into the parking deck," she said.
Valet parking on Monticello Avenue, which has alternately been suspended and moved to other locations, will remain open for the holiday season.
Meanwhile, the Tide construction will soon encroach more on downtown's main north-south thoroughfares -- Boush Street, Granby Street and St. Paul's Boulevard -- as rails are laid across intersections, Stanley Stein, assistant city manager, told the Downtown Norfolk Council at its monthly briefing Wednesday.
He said the city's goals are to keep two of the three major arteries open at all times and to close only one lane in each direction whenever possible.
"We hope you will show some patience as we work through that," Stein said.
Meanwhile, the city wants to make final decisions on the names of the 11 light-rail stations along the 7.4-mile route from the city line at Newtown Road to the medical complex on Brambleton Avenue. It has asked the Downtown Norfolk Council for help.
Mostly, the proposed names adopt the street name where the station is located. But city leaders have received suggestions for other names -- for instance, Theater District Station instead of Monticello Station for the station on Monticello Avenue near Scope and Chrysler Hall.
Other proposed names, running from east to west, are: Newtown Road Station & Park & Ride; Military Highway Station & Park & Ride; Ingleside Neighborhood Station; Broad Creek Station & Park & Ride; NSU Station; Harbor Park Station & Park & Ride; Civic Plaza Square; MacArthur Station; Freemason District Station; and Fort Norfolk/EVMC Station.
The Tide, the $288 million starter light-rail line, is to open next fall.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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