Some of downtown Sacramento's strongest movers and shakers are lining up for a new drive to reintroduce car traffic to the troubled K Street pedestrian mall.

It's time for something new, said restaurateur Randy Paragary, who pioneered the popular Esquire Grill on the mall, then doubled his ante with the Cosmopolitan a few blocks away.

"I think the pedestrian mall experiment has gone on long enough," he said. "Cars would put more eyes on the street, make our businesses more visible and make people feel safer."

He's among several K Street business owners and city officials who've met in the last two weeks to discuss a plan to allow cars on two blocks of the mall early next year.

The once-thriving K Street roadway was ripped out in 1969, in favor of an outdoor mall that would attract shoppers from suburban neighborhoods growing on Sacramento's flanks.

That was the official thinking back then. Through four decades, however, the mall mostly faltered.

Chef Randall Selland, whose family recently built the $4.5 million Ella restaurant at 12th and K streets, has been miffed with the city for its handling of the moribund mall.

When officials sat him down two weeks ago to talk about cars on K, "first thing out of my mouth, I said it sounds like the city is trying to find quick fixes, Band-Aids."

"But the more I thought about it, actually, it's not a bad idea at all," Selland said. "It'd be cool to have drop-offs at the Crest Theatre or a roundabout at the cathedral."

The concept's most influential backer may be Kipp Blewett, whose Rubicon Partners company owns two K Street buildings and last year opened the Citizen Hotel on J Street.

Blewett said opening at least parts of K Street to cars could help launch a retail renaissance decades in the waiting.

He pictures "a slow-moving, pedestrian-friendly environment (with wide sidewalks) that sort of blurs the line between auto and pedestrian."

Assistant City Manager John Dangberg said city officials have concluded, "no matter what strategy we have for retail, housing, or office development on K Street, traffic is a key element."

That's an acknowledgment the pedestrian mall concept, tried by many cities in the 1960s and 1970s, has failed in Sacramento.

Without cars on the street, "people don't even know what businesses are along K Street," said Leslie Fritzsche, the city's downtown development manager.

Officials say they don't have a design yet for the street, but it won't be like J or L streets.

Unlike those commute thoroughfares, K Street is blocked on the east by the convention center and on the west by the Westfield Downtown Plaza shopping center.

The street could feature:

• One lane in each direction, with cars sharing lanes with light-rail trains.

• Little or even no parking. It probably would provide pull-out areas for drivers to drop passengers at stores and restaurants.

• Pedestrians crossing the street at any spot, as occurs now on 13th Street by the convention center.

The two-block test section probably will not have curbs and gutters, officials said. That will save money during the test period and allow for adjustments.

Some downtowners suggest the Eighth-to-10th-street stretch should be the first segment to open because that area is in need of an economic boost. Others advocate the 10th-to-12th-street stretch because those blocks have more businesses that would attract drivers.

City officials said they'll launch a Web survey later this month and will hold a community meeting to solicit opinions. The City Council is expected to be asked in September to OK the two-block pilot project.

A leading bicycle advocate said he wants to see cyclists allowed in the mix on K Street. Bike riding is now banned on the mall.

"There shouldn't be much of an issue because it will be low-speed and probably low-volume," said Walt Seifert of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates.

Sacramento Regional Transit officials say they are not opposed to allowing cars to mingle with light-rail trains, but they have concerns about what it may mean for train schedules.

"We wouldn't want to impede or disrupt the train operations," spokeswoman Alane Masui said.

Some city and downtown officials say they'd prefer that light-rail trains run on a secondary downtown street, such as I Street, but the cost to move the tracks appears prohibitively expensive.

A consultant for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership business and property owners group said the city could even consider allowing cars farther west on K Street, through what is now the Downtown Plaza shopping mall.

"That's not that radical of a thought; it should never have been closed in the first place," said Midge McCauley, a consultant with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership on a plan for attracting business downtown.

Other questions remain, city officials said.

How much money will the redo cost? How many blocks should be open to cars? Should they allow street parking? Commercial truck deliveries?

Are K Street's trees in the way? Should the street have curbs? Should the street be closed to traffic at times for events?

Restaurant owner Selland said he's warmed to the idea of cars on K Street, but warned that it's hardly a salvation for the long-struggling corridor.

"There is a long ways to go besides putting cars on K Street and flowers on the lampposts," he said.

Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.