REVERE — Starting May 1, parking at the nation’s first public beach will no longer be free.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which manages Revere Beach, began installing parking meters on both sides of Revere Beach Boulevard this week between Eliot Circle and Carey Circle.
Parking will cost $1.25 per hour between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m, and there is no time limit on the meters. Payment by coin, card or smartphone app will not be required until May 1, but in the future, visitors will be required to pay to park from April 15 to October 15.
Revenues from the meters, which are also being installed in other DCR-operated locations around the Greater Boston area, will support the statewide park system.
Several locals have spoken out against the installation of the meters. City Councilor Steve Morabito said in a Facebook post that he was completely against them.
“America’s first public beach should be free,” Morabito wrote. “A disrespectful and unnecessary tax burden to the people during a pandemic, at a time of financial hardships, when people need help most.”
One beach visitor on Thursday said that he thought the meters were unfair, especially for older visitors who would have to walk back and forth to their car to pay for parking.
“A lot of people come just to walk. If you come for 10 minutes, you have to pay for an hour or come back to a ticket on your car,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “It’s a public beach. If they’re going to be doing that, they have to make sure the beach is a lot cleaner than it is now.”
Others, however, think that the meters are a good idea. Junior Ruiz, another beachgoer, said he lives close enough that he won’t have to pay for parking, but because he works in Cambridge, he knows how expensive parking can be in other places.
“This area is pretty parking friendly,” Ruiz said. “If anything, it’s going to reduce the traffic coming in here. If you reduce the traffic, more people will come because they can get a space.”
Rolling lane closures will be implemented on Revere Beach Boulevard from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 23 to accommodate the meter installation.
