Outdoor Dining Returns To Waltham's Moody Street This Summer: Here's What To Know

WALTHAM, MA — Waltham residents can expect to enjoy a meal, a cup of coffee or a drink outdoors this summer when dining on Moody Street.

The Traffic Commission issued a final decision at its April 20 meeting, deciding that outdoor dining would return to Moody Street, but only from Thursday evening through Sunday night.

The gist is this: Moody Street will be open to regular, two-way traffic from Monday at 5 a.m. until Thursday at 4 p.m., when outdoor dining takes over Moody Street. From Thursday at 4 p.m. until that following Monday morning, Moody Street will be closed to vehicles.

This change will start on May 25 and last until Sept. 25.

Not every business on Moody Street has been thrilled with the setup in previous years, mostly those non-restaurant stores which have cited a lack of parking as a concern for their potential profits.

The commission has made a compromise with those folks in this proposal, keeping the length of the street shutdown to four months rather than six.

There have also been some stressors lifted off of businesses looking to provide outdoor dining and retail during the days of the week when Moody Street is open.

Those businesses won't need to break down outdoor setups during the Monday through Thursday period. Instead, their setups will remain within a barrier in the parking spaces outside their businesses, providing a buffer between those and the street.

Despite that barrier, outdoor dining won't be offered at all when vehicles are allowed on Moody Street, only from Thursday evening through Sunday night.

Still, don't expect that to stop too many businesses from putting in for a permit. And those can start as of Monday, when the application process opened.

Watch the full Traffic Commission meeting below: