SOMERVILLE – Acting Director of Traffic and Parking James Kotzuba announced today that, starting on Monday, July 20th, the City of Somerville will begin reprogramming its parking meters to accommodate new rates and hours of operation. In keeping with the recently released Phase I recommendations of the City's 14-member Parking Solutions Task Force (PSTF), the new rate for parking will be one dollar per hour, and meters will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, Kotzuba announced that the City would extend the parking time limit to three hours for the curbside meters along Meacham Road and Dover Street in Davis Square, and in the metered lot in Magoun Square. (City-owned lots in Davis Square already offer a three-hour limit.)

"As is typical with these adjustments, we will start in the western end of the city and work our way east," said Kotzuba. "It's not a good idea to open up the electronic meters when it's raining but, weather permitting, the whole process should take about two weeks."

Other PSTF recommendations for Phase I are:

Extending the hours for current daytime business permits to 6 p.m.

Creating a new "second-shift" business permit that allows local business employees to park in designated areas from 6 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Publicizing the city's permitting system for non-profit performing arts groups that allows their patrons to park in permit areas for arts performances.

Continued negotiations with owners of private lots throughout the city to make additional parking available to patrons and businesses.

A citywide assessment and inventory of available parking spaces as well as an analysis of the impact of all new parking policies.

"We will be generating a scope of work for the parking assessment and inventory within the next week or two," said Kotzuba. "We want to get this study underway so that, based on the results from this first phase, we can continue to adjust and fine-tune our implementation plans in order to optimize the accessibility and convenience of our available parking supply."

July 20th will also mark the date of implementation for adjusted parking fees and fines (see list below) authorized by the Board of Aldermen and Traffic Commission.

OFFENSE

FINE

Unattached Trailer

$40.00

Traffic Island/Safety Zone

$30.00

Taxi Stand

$30.00

Restricted Zone

$30.00

Permit Parking

$50.00

Wrong Direction

$30.00

Overtime Parking

$25.00

Over 48 Hours

$30.00

Over 1 Ft. From Curb

$30.00

On Sidewalk

$30.00

Obstruct/2 ft. Driveway

$30.00

No Stop Zone

$30.00

Parking Meter

$30.00

Loading Zone

$30.00

Leave 10 Ft. Passage

$40.00

High School Concourse

$25.00

Double Parking

$50.00

Construction Zone

$30.00

Commercial Overnight

$40.00

Bus Stop

$100.00

20 Ft. Intersection

$40.00

RMV Surcharge

$40.00

A copy of the full Parking Solutions Task Force Report and Recommendations is available online at the Traffic and Parking Department web page at www.somervillema.gov

For more information, please call 311.