ATHOL – The Select Board will vote at its meeting next week on proposed parking restrictions for three streets in the Five Points neighborhood.
Due to the ongoing road project, MassDOT will close the lower portion of Chestnut Hill Avenue, which means people who normally head into or out of Athol on that road will have to detour to Silver Lake Street/Route 32 via either Goodale Street or Dewey Street and Wilson Avenue. These roads would be included in the proposed parking restriction, the details for which are still being worked on.
Public Works Director Paul Raskevitz told the board at its meeting on Sept. 8 that the Chestnut Hill Avenue closure will take place later this fall.
“Most of you realize how much traffic is going to increase [on those streets,]” board Chair Bill Chiasson said. “Dewey and Wilson and Goodale – especially when you get large vehicles on them – you can’t get through. So, I asked (Raskevitz) about no parking, whether he’d have any problem with it.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” board member Russell Raymond said. “They’re [the roads] tight, and what if a fire engine needs to get down there? Buses, fire engines – it’s going to be almost disastrous trying to get around….so, I think there should be no parking.”
Chiasson cited the stretch of Wilson Avenue between Silver Lake Street and Anzio Road as being particularly problematic.
“There’s a huge oak tree right on the edge of the road and vehicles are always parked along in there,” he said. “It’s horrible.”
Raymond pointed out the winter overnight parking ban would be in effect by then, but Chiasson said his proposed ban would be in effect around the clock, and would end once the project is complete, though he thought a parking ban on that section of Wilson Avenue should remain.
“I drive it all the time,” he said. “And once you get snow in there it’s going to be all the worse.”
The board chair said it would “next to impossible” to get a snowplow down Goodale Street, Dewey Street or Wilson Avenuewith snow piled on the side of it. He said allowing parking on one side of Goodale Street might be feasible, “but for Wilson, it’s not going to work.”
Board member Mitch Grosky liked a suggestion from Town Manager Shaun Suhoski that the board hold off on taking a vote until its next meeting.
“That way, people will have a chance to show up and weigh in,” he added.
When Chiasson asked if any board members were unfamiliar with the area, Grosky and Raymond both raised their hands.
“Do yourselves a favor, and drive up and down Wilson Avenue and Dewey; Dewey is not as much of a problem as Wilson,” Chaisson said. “And also Goodale Street between Laurel and Brattle.”
“I think we should map out what you’re proposing and present it at the next meeting,” Marc Maxwell suggested and the board agreed.
Two days after the meeting, Chiasson and Raskevitz toured the roads in question to get a better idea of the potential impact of a parking ban.
“This winter they’re going to close off the lower end of Chestnut Hill Avenue, and it’s going to be that way through the entire winter season, and maybe through the end of the entire project,” Chiasson said. “That’s going to force a lot of traffic down Dewey and Wilson and Goodale.”
He again pointed to the section of Wilson between Anzio and Silver Lake streets.
“When people start parking on one side of the road [Wilson] there, it makes it very difficult for vehicles to get up and down,” he added. “These are all hills, and in winter, if somebody’s coming downhill and has to step on the brake, they’re going to slide. It’s a safety issue. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to make no parking temporary on certain parts (of these streets), but on this one section of Wilson Avenue, I really think it should be permanent.”
The Select Board’s next meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. in Room 21 at Town Hall.