The organizers of the West End Parking Pilot Program, in partnership with the WBNA, the Mayor’s Office, the Providence Police Department, the Department of Public Works, and Councillor Rachel Miller, would like to thank neighbors for their patience and understanding as everyone continues to dig out from under the historic snowfall on Saturday. We are aware that some elements of the program were not able to be executed as planned but it is with your constructive feedback that the program can continue to be improved upon.
Providing neighbors with public parking options during snow storms remains the focus of this pilot and neighbor input is key to finding the best solutions possible for all.
We encourage you to share your thoughts and suggestions via the form below, which we will forward to the organizers and city partners.
+ A letter from the pilot program’s organizers:
Dear Neighbors,
In last weekend’s blizzard, over 20 inches of snow fell on Providence, placing it into the top five snow storms since records began. City workers have been working hard to clear snow to get our schools, businesses, and streets open. It’s been a tremendous task and many streets all across the city are still only partly cleared. We feel the frustration that many neighbors have expressed over sidewalk shoveling, snow plowing, and just where to put it all! The combination of record snow and a new snow parking pilot in our neighborhood has been a great opportunity to test the pilot, but we’ve also heard confusion and some frustration from a few neighbors about the design of the pilot. We want everyone to have a chance to give feedback and help us use this as an opportunity to work closely with the city to improve snow parking in our neighborhood, so we are going to take a few minutes here to share the intention and history of the pilot for those who aren’t familiar.
The pilot was conceived in early 2021 by a group of neighbors in the West End who called for an alternative for those who do not have access to off-street parking during citywide parking bans. Before the pilot program, hundreds of our neighbors, who pay for on-street parking, had nowhere to go during a snow emergency parking ban, resulting in tickets, towed cars, and panicked searches for places to put their car. The group felt that making on-street parking more accessible could offer many benefits, especially for those low-income residents who lack off-street parking and are negatively affected by parking bans.
The city expressed interest in the pilot but wanted to see demonstrated support from the community. The group of neighbors put flyers on the mailboxes and cars on the streets targeted for the pilot, received feedback, and compiled and shared the feedback with the city. As a result, the Department of Public Works, the Providence Police Department, the Mayor’s Office, and City Councilor Rachel Miller agreed to implement a pilot program allowing alternate-side parking during citywide parking bans.
The first test of the pilot was during the early January snow storm, and the feedback was largely positive, including this piece in the Providence Journal. However, it was a much smaller storm.
During last weekend’s storm, some elements of the program were not executed as planned, and we have seen both positive and negative feedback from neighbors - feedback both about the pilot program and about plowing in general. We appreciate this feedback.
It’s also important to remember that even under the best of circumstances, plowing and shoveling can be very difficult with such historic snowfall. We ask for neighbors’ patience and understanding with each other and with the city as we continue to dig out our neighborhood and work through the challenges.
We encourage you to share your thoughts and suggestions via this page. Please consider:
If the program is making your life better–we want to hear from you, how is it better?
If the pilot program is making your life harder–we want to hear from you how we can improve, or other ideas for meeting the need for on-street parking.
What other opportunities do you see to improve snow parking and plowing in the city?
Your observations and feedback are essential to improving how we use our streets and manage snow.
- Organizers, West End Parking Pilot Program
