Town of Stoneham Announces Downtown Parking Improvements

Town of Stoneham Announces Downtown Parking Improvements

Town Administrator Dave Ragucci has announced improvements to the Stoneham downtown parking regulations, effective January 2, 2014. The updated regulations are the result of a collaborative effort of the Town and the Chamber of Commerce.

“We are quite pleased with the revisions to these parking regulations”, notes Town Administrator Ragucci. “We were able to be responsive to the changing needs of our downtown business owners and their employees and customers, while streamlining the Town’s parking and permitting operations.”

The Town and the Chamber of Commerce held a Parking Forum with downtown business owners on August 14 to discuss regulations and to hear suggestions for improvements. Proposed changes were then later distributed to business owners for further input.

Improvements to parking regulations are as follows. A section of the Franklin Street parking lot and Town Hall parking lots will be changed from a 2 to 4 hour parking limit. This will open up longer parking spans for downtown shoppers, business owners and employees, and reduce ticketing incidents.

The color coding regulations for downtown parking lots will be eliminated, except for Recreation Park and the ice skating arena parking lots.

Additional 2-hour parking slots will become available along Main Street by moving the bus stops from their current locations in the square. The new stops will be moved less than 100 yards further down Main Street.

Parking spaces will be maximized along Main Street through the use of short car-length pavement markings. Pavement markings along Main Street from Montvale to Maple will be completed in the spring when the weather is more conducive to painting.

Stoneham will see aesthetic improvements with routine street sweeping along Main Street from Lindenwood Street to Marble Street. On Tuesdays, beginning in the spring of 2014, cars may not park on the east side of Main Street from 5:00am until 6:00am, and on the west side of Main Street from 6:00am until 7:00am. Signs will be posted.

Downtown winter parking conditions will be systemically improved with new winter parking regulations and signage, effective December 1 through April 1. No parking will be permitted on public streets from 1:00am until 6:00am. Upon the accumulation of 3 inches of snow or more, a parking emergency will be in effect and on-street parking will not be allowed until 2 hours after the snow stops falling. Drivers will be able to park cars in the public parking lots during this time.

The public is invited to view the complete revised parking regulations on the Town’s website at www.stoneham-ma.gov.