Melrose Highlands Parking Climate Gets Facelift

MELROSE, MA—A lack of parking haunts residents across the Greater Boston area, but those constraints may be alleviated slightly in the Melrose Highland neighborhood.

Melrose’s Traffic Commission approved a revamp to the parking plan for the Melrose Highlands neighborhood, according to the city’s announcement on Monday. Newly installed signs will now show residents to park according to the new plan.

“The intent of this new plan is to accommodate and balance the needs of local businesses, commuters, and property owners alike, by providing both short and long-term parking in locations that are safe and logical, all while maintaining commuter parking,” according to Monday’s announcement.

The changes are as follows:

• An increase in the total number of legal parking spots from 207 to 220
• Legal, marked commuter parking spaces increased from 74 to 78, between the main parking lot and additional marked spaces on Belmont Street.
• Public parking spots for the business district increased from 97 to 107
• Pedestrian safety and aesthetics improvements of the project such as sidewalk “curb extentions” at crosswalks and enhanced signage on Franklin Street. These improvements, along with the addition of bicycle pavement markings and reduced speed limits, are aimed at providing a safer environment for all modes of transportation.
• All commuter rail parking has been moved to the inbound side; this promotes safety by not having commuters crossing the tracks in front of the inbound train they are trying to catch, which has been a prior safety concern.
• 3-hour parking has been added on Marvin Road to accommodate longer-term retail needs, as requested by several neighborhood businesses.

Residents are urged to direct all questions to the DPW Engineering Division at 781-979-4172 or the Melrose Police Department, Traffic Division at 781-665-1212.

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Photo via the City of Melrose.