City of Providence Pilot Parking Program

Background: Parking on any street in Providence is usually banned during a snow emergency, as declared by the City. Many residents do not have access to off-street parking and thus often park on the street anyway, disrupting plowing operations and resulting in expensive tickets and tows. We did our first pilot last winter in the West End neighborhood to try out alternate-side parking. We adjusted this pilot based on community feedback.

Parks Pilot:

How it will work:

On streets participating in the Snow Parking Pilot, cars will be allowed to park on the side of the street adjacent to the park during the snow parking ban (NOT the residential side)
Only cars with overnight parking permits can park overnight, per usual.
Cars must be moved off of the park-side of the street starting at the following 8AM after the ban has been lifted, until 8PM, to allow the plows to come through a second time and clear that lane

For example: A snow parking ban starts at 10PM on January 28th. Cars may park on the park-side of the participating streets at this time. The ban is lifted at 10AM on January 29th. Because this is after 8AM, you don’t have to move your car yet. You must remove your car starting at 8AM on January 30th, until 8PM. Alternatively, if the ban is lifted at 4AM on January 29th, you must remove your car from this lane starting at 8AM on January 29th. The “no parking” designation starts the next time it hits 8AM after a ban has been lifted.

Please note: this pilot IS enforceable by the police. If you are parked on the wrong side of the street, you may be ticketed or towed. If you park on any non-participating street during the snow parking ban, you may be ticketed or towed as well.

Streets proposed to participate:

Washington Park neighborhood:
- Miller Ave adjacent to Roger Williams Park, NOT the residential side (This is signed as no-parking, which will be overruled during snow parking bans by this pilot program)
- Michigan Ave adjacent to Columbia Park
West End neighborhood:
- Hollywood Road, Dexter Street, and Parade Street adjacent to Dexter Training Ground
- Messer Street, Sorrento Street, Kenwood Street, and Waverly Street adjacent to Conlan Memorial Park
Fox Point neighborhood:
- South/water-side of George M Cohan Boulevard, between Thompson Street and East Street

Alternate-Side Pilot:

How it will work:

On streets participating in the Alternate-Side Snow Parking Pilot, cars will be allowed to park on one, predetermined side of the street during a storm. Only those with overnight parking permits can park overnight, as usual.
The side you can park on depends on the date when the parking ban starts: if the parking ban starts on an EVEN date then you can park on the EVEN-address side of the street during the parking ban. On an ODD date, you can park on the ODD-address side of the street during the parking ban. For the length of the parking ban, cars will be allowed to park on this side of the street.
The following 8AM after the parking ban has been lifted, cars must move to the OTHER side of the street from 8AM – 8PM

For example: A snow parking ban starts at 10PM on January 28th. Cars may park on the even side of the participating streets. The ban is lifted at 10AM on January 29th. Because this is after 8AM, you don’t have to move your car yet. You must move your car to the other side of the street starting at 8AM on January 30th, until 8PM. Alternatively, if the ban is lifted at 4AM on January 29th, you must move your car from this lane starting at 8AM on January 29th. The switch starts the next time it hits 8AM after a ban has been lifted.

Streets proposed to participate:

West End neighborhood:
- Messer Street
- Sycamore Street
- Linwood Avenue between Cranston Street and Union Ave
Fox Point neighborhood:
- East Transit Street
- Fremont Street

Please note: these pilots ARE enforceable by the police. If you are parked on the wrong side of the street, you may be ticketed or towed. If you park on any non-participating street during the snow parking ban, you may be ticketed or towed as well.

Feedback:

The purpose of these pilot programs is to try to find a solution that could work city-wide to allow people to park on-street during storms when they have to, while still enabling curb-to-curb plowing, and safety. We appreciate your patience as we test different solutions to this challenge. We also appreciate any feedback you have throughout the winter. This pilot is not set in stone, and this letter seeks to gather any feedback residents have on the proposed program.

Please reach out to Melanie Jewett mjewett@providenceri.gov, to provide feedback.