TO:                  Mayor William F. Martin, Jr.

                                    And

                        Members of the Lowell City Council

FROM:            Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager

DATE:             April 26, 2007

RE:                   Council Motion of 4/24/07 by Councillor Elliott

Request the City Manager have the Traffic Division place no parking signs on Edwards Street.”

________________________________________________________________________

Please be advised that I have been in contact with Jeff Gomes, Transportation Engineer, regarding the motion mentioned above.  Jeff stated that he researched the parking problem on Edwards Street and made some conclusions.  There are a limited number of parking spaces available during events when the Edwards Street Park is in use.  The soccer league that uses the park during events leases spaces from the property owners in the parking lots nearby.  Over the years the soccer league has grown and the number of vehicles parking and using the park has grown as well.  The vehicles that are parking on Edwards Street park on residential property, making it difficult for the residents to access their driveways.  In addition, the close parking of vehicles impedes the accessibility of emergency response.  Jeff Gomes has suggested community carpooling or having the league shuttle people to and from a rendezvous point to alleviate some of the parking congestion.  This is a good solution unless the soccer league can hold some of its games at different fields to lessen the attendees.

In the interim, a 60-day trial for No Parking on both sides will be before the City Council on May 1^st, 2007.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please let me know.  Thank you.