1/20/2022
Revisions to Parking Restrictions Near Belmont High School
The Traffic Working Group—Middle and High School (TWG—MHS) makes the following recommendations to the Select Board for consideration at the January 24, 2022:
- Extend the parking restrictions for side streets approved by the Select Board on December 20, 2021 to include the following streets:
- Stone Road (entire)
- Louise Road (from Concord Ave to the intersection with Emerson)
- Emerson St (from Concord Ave to the intersection with Louise)
- This change should take effect on January 31 2022.
- Change the end date of the trial to February 18, 2022. This will allow the Select Board to consider further recommendations from the Traffic Working Group-Middle and High School at its February 14 meeting and avoid a lapse of the program that would otherwise occur on January 28.
In addition, the Chair of the Working Group recommends for the January 24 Select Board meeting that the westbound (school) side of Concord Avenue from Underwood Street to the light pole across from Becket Road (a distance of approximately 200 feet) be removed from the area reserved for students with lottery permits. Virtually no students have parked there since September. The purpose of this change is to allow more parking on the school side of Concord Avenue by students who did not receive a lottery permit, as well as by the general public. This change would modify the vote on Concord Avenue student parking taken by the Select Board in August 2021. This change should take effect on January 31, 2022.
Modifying the Concord Avenue student parking zone came up during the TWG—MHS deliberations on January 14, 2022 but a vote was not taken due to time constraints. Nonetheless, Chair urges the Select Board to take this action to coincide with the expansion of the restrictions on the side streets. This will allow the TWG—MHS to evaluate the total parking situation in time for recommendations to the Select Board on February 14.
The January 14 meeting of the TWG—MHS also resulted in a decision to allow all-day parking in the Underwood Pool lot and in the Concord Avenue drop-off area by the pool outside of pool season.
There should be sufficient alternatives for the students who have been parking on Stone or Louise since January 3rd, given the number of spaces opened up by the above proposals in conjunction with unutilized on-street spaces in proximity to BHS which are not included in the revised trial.
With questions, please contact Roy J Epstein repstein@belmont-ma.gov and Larry Link albertlink49@gmail.com
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