Great Barrington — In an effort to free up downtown parking for shoppers during the coming spring round of the Main Street Reconstruction Project, a parking task force has come up with a voluntary program that it thinks will help by giving merchants and their employees, as well as residential tenants, spaces to park outside the center of town.
When the snow finally melts, signs will be installed for the “Spot Saver” program, brainchild of an informal task force working for several years under the guidance of Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin. The task force included about 15 local merchants and several town officials, and now consists of Jennifer Clark, Betsy Andrus, Bill Cooke and Robin Helfand.
This Wednesday night (February 25) the task force — with generous help from Castle Street Café owner Michael Ballon — will host a launch party at the Café at 5 p.m. to explain the program and answer questions. The public is welcome.
Once installed, blue parking signs will indicate 4-hour parking areas (see map above) Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the three public lots on the west side of Main Street: At the end of Castle Street, at the end of Railroad Street, and the Taconic lot between the Triplex Theater and Main Street businesses.
All-day, no restriction parking will be located in the following lots:
–RBC Wealth Management, in the old train station complex on Castle Hill Avenue and Castle Street, at the top of the railroad underpass;
– Day’s Inn at Main and St. James Place/Taconic Avenue;
– The former Searles School lot on Bridge Street;
The GB Spot Saver sites for downtown merchants, tenants and employees.
– Congregational Church and TD Bank shared parking lot at 271 Main Street;
– St. Peter’s Church, 213 Main Street;
– St. Peter’s Community Center, 16 Russell Street;
– The Lamplighter, 162 Main Street.
The paid rental lot on Bridge Street behind the southeast block of shops (the “Foster’s lot”) is also an option, as well as another behind Wheeler & Taylor Insurance/Realty on Main Street.
Spot Saver participants will get decals for their car windows and a poster to put in their window, as well, to explain how they are helping the community during the reconstruction project, which, according to Town Planner Christopher Rembold, is slated to begin at the end of March, but “depends on the snow melt.”
“The schedule and phasing are extremely weather-dependent right now,” Rembold added.
The $5.8 million state-funded project has always been a long-dreaded affair to replace sidewalks, trees, road surface, lights, crosswalks and traffic signals from St. James Place/Taconic Avenue to Cottage Street. The town got its first taste of it when work began last summer, with some parking challenges, traffic flow issues and one known mishap: a severed Verizon line that shut power down to a number of homes and businesses. Downtown merchants have been concerned about disruptions to a steady stream of commerce, particularly during the peak summer months. As a result, the work will simmer down in July and August with “no or extremely limited work between Castle Street and Elm Street, the core of downtown,” Rembold said.
But after the tourists and second homeowners have high-tailed it back to the city, the work will continue in full force until another winter sets its teeth into Great Barrington.
For further information, contact Betsy Andrus at the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce: 413-528-4284.
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