The city is planning to add two dozen new parking spaces on Blake Street in the downtown to accommodate the demand.
But the project, which has been in the planning stages for two years, is stalled while the city searches for $160,000 to put a shovel in the ground, according to Robert Stillian, the city’s parking director.
Under the plan, the eight parallel parking spots on Blake Street would be reconfigured so that cars would park at an angle creating 25 more spots. Construction diagrams call for moving the curb by about seven feet into the adjacent municipal lot and erecting a new fence.
Cindy Steger-Wilson, a Lynn Community Health Center spokeswoman, said parking became a problem two years ago when the city’s Buffum Municipal Lot went permit only. “Parking has always been an issue for our patients,” she said. “But when the city restricted parking in the lot to only permit holders that exacerbated the problem because the only other options are metered parking for two hours or less.”
The lack of parking creates a burden for patients who are handicapped or not feeling well, she said because they have to park so far from the clinic on Union Street.
“We’ve had patients leave in the middle of a procedure because they were worried about getting a ticket,” Steger-Wilson said. “Many of our patients are very low-income and a ticket is a financial hardship, especially when they can’t pay it right away and it snowballs into a higher fee.”
Ward 5 City Councilor Dianna Chakoutis, who has been spearheading the effort to expand downtown parking, said a solution needs to be found soon.
“It’s clear that we need more parking in the downtown,” she said. “We have more businesses, condos, and apartments and there’s nowhere to park. It’s tapped down there, all the lots are full.”
Deborah Smith Walsh, the clinic’s community and government relations director, said she hopes a solution can be found before winter comes.
“There’s about one month left in the construction season, and I just hope we can get this done soon,” she said.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.
