2020 Update #36

Where to Park Downtown Starting Next Week

The Highlights

• Where to park during the 10-week closure of Main Street

• Temporary suspension of parking on South Main Street late July – early August

In the past two days we’ve talked about getting around downtown on foot and on our local roads. Today we’ll complete our look ahead to this summer’s construction with a rundown of where to park downtown during the 10-week closure of Main Street.

You can get a bird’s-eye view of all your downtown parking options here. Let’s go over some of the details.

If you’re destination is the Post Office, we’ve set aside 11 parking spaces, including two handicapped spaces, in the area between the Post Office crosswalk and Main Street’s intersection with Seymour Street. These are signed for a 15-minute time limit to encourage quick turnover for those needing to take care of business at the P.O. You’ll enter this parking area by turning either right or left from Seymour Street.

Your best option for downtown parking will be the municipal lot, both the upper lot behind the Town Offices and Ilsley Library and the lower lot down the hill. So that these parking spaces are available to those who need them during the day, we’ve temporarily signed all parking spaces, upper and lower, for a 2-hour time limit.

Both of the above time limits are temporary and will go into effect next Monday through September 21. Those limits will be enforced.

In addition, the 12 spaces immediately behind Ilsley Library, similar to the few spaces in front of the Middlebury Co-Op, will be signed as recommended for seniors and families with small children.

If the municipal lot is full, your choices are still many: the Mill Street lot down past Stone Mill alongside Otter Creek, the Academy Street lot adjacent to the park in front of Shafer’s Deli, and Franklin Street.

Putting Franklin Street on the Map

Franklin Street, as you can see on the parking map, is that short road that connects the College library with Academy Street. It is being temporarily converted to one way up the hill in order to add a dozen or so parallel parking spaces.

Those spaces will become important during a three-week period starting around July 23 when all the precast concrete sitting out at Fifield Farm is trucked into downtown. The “overhang” of those pieces will require Kubricky to cordon off all parking on South Main Street for about three weeks. Creating alternative parking on Franklin Street will help Sanderson’s funeral home during this period and provide additional parking for downtown.

Of course, there is also a lot of on-street parking within a relatively short walk of downtown on College Street, Weybridge Street, South Street, South Pleasant Street, North Pleasant Street, etc.

Finally, an important reminder that all of your favorite businesses in the Marble Works remain open, as does the back entrance of the Marble Works on Middle Seymour Street. There will be plenty of parking in both the north and south Marble Works parking lots for customers.

Bottom Line: Don’t let concern about lack of parking downtown keep you from the Post Office, our downtown businesses and restaurants, or wherever your downtown destination might be. And while you’re there, be sure to take a look around at this once-in-a-lifetime construction project.

That’s all for today. See you soon.

Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.