An extra 235 parking spaces will be added near the Concord Coach terminal off Stickney Avenue to help deal with a situation that, in the words of one presenter, “falls under the heading of ‘somebody needs to do something.'”
“Congestion, sometimes downright packed. During peak vacation and holiday periods, they turn from normally busy conditions into a contact sport,” said Air Pollack, representing the regional bus company at a Planning Board hearing Wednesday.
Under the project, given unanimous site plan approval by the Planning Board, Concord Coach will lease almost four acres of city land in a long, crescent-shaped parcel previously known as the Tsunis Property that sits near the company’s current lot between I-93 and North Main Street.
The lease agreement is nearing completion. Concord Coach would be responsible for all work and would pay property tax, the board was told.
The Concord Coach lot and adjacent park-and-ride area have 590 designated spaces but can hold hundreds more cars if they are parked by the valet system that the company uses during holiday periods and other busy times.
Even so, the area is often overflowing with cars parked on grassy areas or in places with no parking space marked. “Often times [they are] parked unsafely given weather conditions and the nature of the shoulders and steep grade slopes adjacent to Interstate 93 and Stickney Avenue,” is how it was described in a report from city planning staff.
Part of the issue, the Planning Board was told, is that people use the area as free parking before walking downtown. Much of the land is state-owned, and therefore Concord Coach cannot charge for parking at this time.
The new parcel is far from ideal for maximizing parking spaces, but it is constrained by the mix of odd-shaped lots in the area. Some are owned by the city, some by the state, some by U-Haul and others by Brady-Sullivan properties, which is turning to old Department of Transportation garage into apartments. That renovation will remove some spaces that had been used by commuters.
“It’s kind of a no-man’s land, actually perfect for some parking,” said Pollack.
The lot will be paved, illuminated and fenced. It received several variances covering everything from stormwater runoff to tree-planting. The variances were requested partly because the lease is set for 10 years but includes an option for the city to reclaim the property in just five years if needed as part of the project known as Storrs Street North, which would require removing improvements like curbing.
In an earlier Monitor story, Ben Blunt, owner of Concord Coach Lines, said the parking situation was crowded before COVID but eased during the pandemic. It started to be a problem again in 2023 as work-from-home ended and Concord Coach began running more bus routes to Boston as well as a new direct service to New York City.