HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — Harrisonburg Public Works is inviting community members to learn more about the ongoing North Mason Street study during an upcoming open house focused on potential safety and streetscape improvements along the corridor.

An open house meeting will take place Tuesday, February 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center, 620 Simms Ave. City staff will share information during the event about the effort to evaluate concepts for reconfiguring North Mason Street between East Market Street and North Main Street – with a focus on improving safety and enhancing how the roadway serves the community.

The study builds on feedback and data collected during last summer’s Demonstration Project, which allowed community members to experience potential changes to the corridor and provide input. That effort generated more than 1,500 responses and helped identify key priorities such as improving pedestrian safety, maintaining appropriate traffic flow, supporting nearby businesses and designing the street to work for all users: people walking, biking, driving, taking transit and emergency vehicles.

The open house will provide an opportunity for community members, business owners and other stakeholders to review diagrams of the options under consideration, ask questions and share their experiences and feedback with City staff.

“We learned a lot from the Demonstration Project and the feedback community members shared,” Public Works Planning Manager Jakob zumFelde said. “This open house allows the community to see how that input is shaping the study, understand the options being considered and continue the conversation about the future of North Mason Street.”

The study is funded through and coordinated with the Harrisonburg–Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization and is expected to be completed by summer 2026, allowing the potential project to be considered for Virginia’s SMART SCALE transportation funding program. If funded, construction would not begin until after 2030.

Additional information about the North Mason Street study, including materials from the Demonstration Project and background on the corridor, is available on the project webpage.