16a. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC AND PARKING Upon the Petition of Attorney Robert Longden on behalf of the Trustees of Clark University request to prohibit on-street parking on both sides of Downing St. and Woodland Street between Main St. and Charlotte St. and to install “No Parking” signs on Downing & Woodland St.: recommend passage of the accompanying two proposed Ordinances
Here’s what that means:
1. Finalize the closing of Downing Street.
2. Changes to the street map. They (where “they” is “Clark University”) want to make “Woodland” curve around to be the rest of Downing.
3. Major changes to parking. They eliminate all parking from Main (next to Annie’s Clark Brunch) up to where the road is blocked off, on both sides, and then all the way down the new/old Woodland Street to Charlotte.
The subcommittee (Traffic and Parking) recommended (a looong time ago) that these proposed ordinances be advertised.
If the City Council votes tonight that they should be advertised, that means that they will be advertised in the newspaper.
It also usually means that this is a done deal.
When the Downing Street deal went down, the votes were as follows:
Yeas – Clancy, Haller, Palmieri, Petty, Smith, Toomey
Nays – Eddy, Germain, Lukes, Rushton
Abstain – O’Brien
Three of the Yeas are no longer on the Council.
Could the changes to the Council mean that the vote will go the other way?
I’m not sure, but I (and most citizens) should be concerned about the requests to eliminate parking on Woodland Street. This is a densely populated area, one in which there are public schools (and teachers who need to park), businesses (patronized by people who park), and residences (with people who park). I can’t imagine this will make things any easier for residents and those who work in the area.
It’s true that I’m no fan of PILOT, and I think that this will probably be another case where neighbors’ concerns are minimized in favor of the almighty dollar.
I hope the new city councilors will prove me wrong.
Nicole, Worcester 