Every day of the week, the work around the Franklin County Courthouse moves the renovation/expansion project closer to completion.
With all these construction pieces coming together, the project will provide 104,000 square feet of space full of modern amenities that should serve the legal system well for decades to come. Yet, for all of the promise held by this project, there’s one outstanding piece that could strike a discordant note early next year after its completion: parking.
The Greenfield Parking Commission has initiated its plan to deal with downtown parking in the area of the courthouse, in part addressing concerns raised by residents about how the town will handle an increased need for parking at the east end of Main Street, given that the courthouse lost its own Hope Steet parking lot to expand its footprint.
While this parking issue has been part of the courthouse project, the town’s preferred solution — a parking garage behind Main Street in the Olive Street and Bank Row block — has so far failed to tap into the necessary state money that would make this a reality. That’s forced the need for at least a short-term solution.
Credit the commission with recognizing that the solution would have to be larger than, say, the immediate area around the courthouse, (where, as a matter of transparency, we should note The Recorder’s offices and employee parking are located.)
Already the town has begun marking on-street parking spots for permit holders along Franklin, Park, Church, Prospect and Congress streets, residential areas near the courthouse that have until now accommodated only limited on-street parking. And Greenfield officials are quick to say these new parking spots will be temporary, in existence only until the parking garage is built.
To our thinking then, those neighborhoods are looking at a three-year minimum from the time garage construction begins.
But that’s not the only step.
The plans calls for cutting the number of permit spots in the lot next to the fire station, instead offering more kiosk pay-and-display spaces and increasing the time limit to four hours for these kiosk spots. Allowing for longer turnover time should benefit not just people using the lot for courthouse business but also others who are downtown for the library, YMCA, Greenfield Garden Cinemas or other business.
Changes in the Hope Street lot, allowing more pay-and-display turnover parking, is also part of the plan. Beyond these lots, Greenfield is looking at permit assignments and the restructuring of fees to see that permit holders always have a spot, but perhaps farther from the courthouse.
A big key here is Greenfield pursuing having the Franklin Regional Transit Authority provide free shuttle service between town parking lots and the downtown area.
“The Parking Commission is focused on balancing the needs of the visitors and residents who expect to find parking when coming downtown for work or play,” said Parking and Traffic Commission Chairman Sebastian Gutwein in a news release. “At the same time, we must accommodate people who need to use the court. The plan we are adopting attempts to balance those needs.”
While Greenfield residents and businesses can appreciate what is being done here, the long-term solution, whether a parking garage or not, has to be in place soon to serve as a salve to the coming parking and traffic aches.