Downtown Street Direction To Change For Better Parking

Note: The following notice was provided by the mayor's office. 

Effective Monday, November 5, 2012, the direction of Middlesex Street at Pleasant Street will be reversed. Drivers will be able to turn left at Middlesex Street on Pleasant Street to Exchange Street and will be looking directly at the CDB Garage, which offers convenient and validated parking for downtown shopping.

The initiative for the direction change came from downtown merchants and the Chamber of Commerce and comes just in time for shopping as we prepare for the Holiday Season.

"I applaud Mayor Christenson and Councillor Nestor for taking our idea and making it a reality for us downtown merchants.  Hopefully, this will be a positive solution for parking challenges and will become a permanent part of the Square's traffic flow," said Kevin Rigney, owner of Liberty Jewelers on Pleasant Street.

The direction change is proposed for three months during phase two of the Pleasant Street Reconstruction Project and will be subject to a review at that time. Both Councillor Nestor and the Mayor's office have pledged to hold discussions with the merchants on the effectiveness of the change and the Traffic Commission will then consider either extending the initiative or allowing it to expire depending upon information gathered during this period.

"I am happy to work with the merchants in the area to help increase business in any way I can.  Many visitors to the area do not realize how close and how much parking there is in close proximity to Pleasant and Exchange Streets.  This is an innovative way to direct consumers to a parking area so that they will patronize the many great restaurants and businesses in Malden Square", said Councillor Nestor.

Overall completion of the Pleasant Street project is expected in June of 2013.