This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Make Central Fire Station Parking Public

Much discussion has revolved around the loss of seven parking spots along Mass Ave in front of Cambridge Savings Bank and the newly opened Kickstand Cafe.  The ill-considered proposal to carve out new public spaces in the private parking lot of Kickstand has met the silent, ignoble death it deserved. An equally banal proposal to expropriate resident parking on Swan Place (didn't see that coming *sarcasm*), Alton Street and well used spots in front of Arlington Catholic deserves the same consideration.  Not only is this proposal expensive, with re-routing "redundant" fire hydrants in front of a densely packed school, it is unnecessary.  

A more realistic and simple solution is to take half of the almost 20 parking spaces reserved for public employees and their buddies at the Central Fire Station, see attached picture.  Proper use of the driveway to park official vehicles and small changes to the curb configuration would free up more than 15 spots with no impact to public safety operations.  Furthermore, when the center fire station is rebuilt in the next few years, proper design could open up even more spots for public use in support of Arlington's central business district.

As the Town Manager rationalized when charging residents high overnight parking fees, parking in Arlington is a scarce resource.  How can we justify reserving 3X the number of spaces needed by staff at the fire station in the most useful spots right in the center of town?

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