(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Dear Editor,

Jack Connolly’s letter last week highlights the conflict between the parking and the bike lobbies, both of which want to use the streets to their ends. The restaurants in Davis Square would like to have the outside dining extended – so would their customers. The “experiment” of last summer and fall worked. Traffic still moved and pedestrians were safer because the traffic was calmer. Taking parking spaces for outside dining has an impact, but it serves customers. Taking parking for bike lanes and peak hour bus lanes makes cycling easier and safer and is helpful for bus commuters.

We need a trade-off, it should not be one or the other, why not both?

I recall some time back there was a thought of a multistory parking station in Davis on the Herbert/Day St. lot. We have city parking in the Grove St lot , in the (old) Rite-Aid/community path lot and Herbert / Day St. The ward 6 councilor ventured a while back that a structure on the Herbert / Day St. lot for program use including the Farmer’s Market would be a good idea. Why not a 3 story parking lot that could have the farmer’s market at grade level once a week and parking the rest of the time? Then you could have both the bike lanes and the extended outdoor dining (with calmer traffic and better pedestrian safety) and stimulate business.

Davis serves more than just the local citizens. People come from all over to the Somerville Theatre and the specialty stores. Davis also is the biggest golden egg the city has as a tax revenue base, despite its run down condition from lack of maintenance. The zoning predicates more commercial (as apart from retail service) and this is where a parking station could reap benefits for the city. Daytime use to accommodate cars for commercial office expansion and evening and weekend use for restaurant / bar / theatre use.

Alan Bingham
Somerville