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The plan to reimagine the Vinnin Square Walgreens site with new retailers and restaurants represents a brief glimpse at the opportunities available to redefine Swampscott’s commercial center.
With several shopping plazas grouped around one of the town’s busiest streets, Vinnin Square is a moderate traffic challenge for the best driver on the best of days and a major downer on the worst traffic days.
The levels of automotive annoyance originate in the way parking lots funnel traffic onto Paradise Road. Drivers snake their way out of the lots and onto Paradise through a combination of intersections controlled by traffic signals and exits. On busy days or during bad weather, the intersections are easily overwhelmed.
Town officials in their wisdom are not looking at Walgreens’ move across Paradise Road in a vacuum. The store relocation opens space for four new businesses. But it also sets the stage to examine ways to reconfigure the major Vinnin Square parking lot where the chain retailer is now located.
The parking layout in the plaza dominated by Stop & Shop and Walgreens is congested and disorganized. The parking spaces in the lot’s center are used by drivers seeking to minimize walking. Lot spaces nearer Paradise Road and Essex are comparatively empty.
The parking problem is worse in the lot on the other side of Paradise Road where prudent drivers crawl up and down parking lanes looking for a space to avoid a collision with a car pulling out in front of them.
Both major lots, as well as the one at the end of Vinnin Square dominated by Staples, need to be examined for exit and entrance convenience and improved traffic flow. Experts make a living conducting this type of research. But a couple of public hearings scheduled by town officials could provide residents an opportunity to offer parking improvement ideas.
Vinnin Square is a vital section of Swampscott, serving simultaneously as a border area with Salem and an entrance point to the town. A close look at parking and maximizing opportunities for businesses in the square can quickly lead to an examination of the long unused General Glover property and the square’s other underutilized sections.
The town should stride boldly into a reimagination of Vinnin Square. They should reject quick-fixes or half-measure methods for improving Swampscott’s commercial center.
