http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101203/NEWS02/712039913
Published December 3, 2010 in the Rutland Herald Springfield group wants parking survey By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The first thing businesses interested in moving to downtown Springfield ask about is parking, according to Carol Lighthall, executive director of Springfield On The Move. So much so, the downtown redevelopment organization wants to collect data about all the available parking in the immediate area into a report, easily shared with potential businesses. Lighthall said that with all the storefront vacancies in downtown Springfield, a traffic report would be a very helpful tool in getting businesses to take a closer look. The Springfield Select Board recently approved applying for a municipal planning grant, with the goal of developing a downtown parking plan. Lighthall said it would cost between $8,000 and $15,000 to do what Springfield On The Move wants to do, and she said the organization would provide any local match required by the grant. Lighthall said Springfield On The Move had doubled its membership in the past year. “We’d like to do a parking assessment,” she said, evaluating demand and what’s available, both privately and publicly. A detailed map would be very valuable, she said. “Businesses raise the parking issue typically first,” she said. Part of the problem, Lighthall said, is that the current parking information is “hearsay.” “We would do surveys and not rely on hearsay,” she said. Lighthall said there are widespread complaints that employees of downtown businesses clog up the downtown parking. Select Board member Terri Benton, a local banker, said merchants have been repeatedly asked not to park on Main Street. “This is not new,” she said. “How are you going to get these folks to do things they’ve already been asked to do?” Benton asked. Lighthall said she was prepared to do “lots and lots of outreach” to bring the parking problem and its solution to the fore. There have been no updated figures since a 1995 downtown master plan, she said. “It will be good to have an inventory,” said Select Board member Michael Knoras. While there is plenty of free parking in the downtown area, she said, a lack of lighting is a safety issue. And, she said, there needs to be improved signage identifying parking, with an aim at being more friendly to tourists visiting Springfield. Lighthall said she would act as project manager. She said she was working very closely with the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission to assess the parking needs. Lighthall said that Springfield On The Move would raise the money for its share, assuming the town received the planning grant. The town decided to apply for $8,000. Town Manager Robert Forguites said he was aware that four or five other towns would also be putting in applications for the municipal planning grants. Forguites and others said the downtown had lost a lot of parking spaces in the past couple of years to “paint.” Paint refers to handicapped parking spaces and the extra room allocated for them and crosswalks, said resident David Yesman. Regulations require that there is no parking 20 feet from either side of a crosswalk, Yesman said. “Those regulations really hurt,” he said. Forguites said the extra space was an effort to improve safety, and he noted there had been a number of accidents involving pedestrians in downtown Springfield over the past several years. The real problem, Knoras said, is to convince people to walk a short distance to a store or business. “We’ve got to train people to walk, like me,” joked Knoras. susan.smallheer http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101203/NEWS02/712039913
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