Parking, Liberated!

by Glenn C. Koenig, Webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - Years of confusion surrounding parking in town have finally come to an end this week, as crews have now removed the old parking meters from the town’s main parking lot, known as Naylor Court.  New signs are being installed to inform drivers of time limits and other parking restrictions.
According to Steve Silverstein, Director of Municipal Services for the town, although other parking meters around town will remain in place for now, they plan to empty the coin boxes within them, then seal them with labels saying, “Free Parking.”

For years, many residents and visitors to Maynard have been confused by the vintage parking meters throughout town, most of which have been in place for over 40 years.  "Do I have to put money in them?  How can I figure out how much time is left?  How long can I park here if the meter is jammed?  Will I get a parking ticket if I can’t figure this out?"

(The segments normally used to show time remaining on this meter spelled "JAM" instead, as the meter's coin box was full.)

Now that the meters have been removed, those questions have become moot.  The new signs being installed throughout the downtown area will inform drivers of typical parking restrictions, such as time limits and the policies for parking in handicapped spaces and loading zones.
Signs will also designate various “No Parking” areas, such as near fire hydrants, cross walks, and within a minimum distance from driveways and side streets.
Parking regulations will still be enforced by the police.

This has been tried in other nearby towns and has been shown to work effectively in most places.  Drivers no longer have to fuss with coins, credit cards, smartphone apps, and so forth. 

Naylor Court is the official name of the main parking lot downtown, behind the storefronts along Nason Street, Main Street, below Memorial Park, and along Summer Street, across from the Fine Arts Theatre Place. Technically Naylor Court is the passage between the Sugar Snap store (53 Main Street) and the Azucar Tapas Bar (51 Main Street) and forms a loop, as shown on the map, here.

Background

Back in July of 2023, I published a story about the dilemma facing drivers in town, called “Money for the Meter?”  The town has an official committee, known as the Parking Authority (See: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/285/Parking-Authority ), but most of the documentation there dates back to 2018. The most recent minutes are from 2023, back around the time I published my story.  At that time, the position of parking officer was vacant, as the previous employee had left.  Without anyone to attend to the meters, they soon filled up with coins and stopped working.

A year later, in 2024, various merchants in downtown were tired of hearing complaints from customers about the broken parking meters, the confusion they were causing, and the lack of a plan for the future, so they circulated a flyer to gather support for a change.

So, what took so long?  Part of the reason has to do priorities facing town government officials.  Old obsolete parking meters had to take a back seat to other more pressing matters, such as road repaving, water system troubles, and trying to balance general town expenses against limited revenue.  Since some meters were labeled “2 hour limit," that had to do in the meantime.
Finally, at the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, August 5th, money was finally appropriated for the change over from meters to signs, as shown in the meeting's minutes (Item 7, section C, on page 4),
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_08052025-1742
On August 15th, The Maynard Voice ran a story about future plans for the Naylor Court area.  At the very end of the story, they mention the pending removal of the parking meters,
https://maynardvoice.com/naylor-court-commons-action-plan-2/

Finally, after all this time, people wishing to park in downtown Maynard can say "good riddance" to these old meters.
Removal of the meters on other downtown streets will have to wait until more funds can be found to pay for the signs, etc.  At least, drivers won't have to worry about carrying coins to put into them anymore.

Commentary

It's amazing how contentious parking issues can be in cities and towns in New England.  Much of the problem stems from the fact that the roads were laid out many years before automobiles became common.  There were some horse drawn carriages and coaches, but the vast majority of people either walked or, starting around 1820, were able to ride on a "street railway," the horse drawn precursor to the trolley car.  Electrically powered trolley cars began to take over from horses in the 1880s, before automobiles became practical.  In that same era, the bicycle also became popular.  Thus, there was no need for vast amounts of parking space.
But as with anything else, the advent of automobile transportation came with both pros and cons. According to a chart online, published by the Federal Highway Administration, in 1900, there were only about 8,000 motor vehicles in the US, but by 1913, there were over 1 million!  By 1950, when I was born, there were over 40 million.  With a population of 150 million people, that amounted to just about 1 car per family.
By the mid 1990s, there were over 128 million motor vehicles.  As the population was over 250 million by then, that meant there was 1 vehicle for every 2 people, or about one car per adult, instead of per family.  With many of the same roads still in place in the older cities and towns, no wonder there is a parking problem!
Although Maynard is classified as a "MBTA Community" by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (state government), that's only because we're next door to the South Action commuter rail station. Otherwise, we have no public transportation in town, or connecting us with neighboring towns.  The only thing even close is the van service operated by the Council on Aging.
However, implementing a public transit system (perhaps a local bus that runs a regular route) would take a significant effort, based on the need for funding in today's tight public economy.
We have become so used to the advantages of owning and driving a car, that it may be difficult to stop for a moment to consider walking or using a bicycle. If the weather is cold or rainy, or we're buying groceries, using a car is likely to seem even more attractive.  But, in spite of these challenges, the more we find ways to leave the car at home and set out into the open air, the better we will alleviate parking congestion, and perhaps benefit from the exercise as well.

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