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Date: 11/3/2022
SPRINGFIELD – With the recent demolition of the Civic Center parking garage, downtown Springfield continues experiencing congested traffic during marquee events. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, city officials and business leaders announced a coordinated effort to alleviate vehicle and pedestrian traffic concerns during an Oct. 25 press conference.
The demolition of the Civic Center parking garage temporarily removed 700 parking spaces in the downtown near the MassMutual Center. The city is now constructing a state-of-the-art mixed use parking garage in its place, which will offer 1,000 parking spots and 10,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. Sarno expects the project to reach completion by the end of 2023.
In the wake of the Civic Center garage’s closure, the city has roughly 8,800 parking spots still available for public use. MGM Springfield provides 3,375 parking spaces through their free parking garage, the Interstate 91 North Parking Garage features 1,098 available spots and the Tower Square Parking Garage holds 1,203 vehicles. Other parking garages include the I-91 South Parking Garage, the Springfield Parking Authority’s Dwight Street parking lot and the Monarch Place Garage on Boland Way.
Sarno said he and city leaders met for a series of post wrap up review meetings following a recent wave of events returning to Springfield. The Springfield Thunderbirds hosted their home season opener on Oct. 15, while the Springfield Symphony Orchestra reopened for its concert season on Oct. 22.
During his remarks, Sarno stressed that the traffic congestion is reflective of positive economic development in downtown Springfield. The mayor noted that the recently opened Artist Café experienced prosperous business activity during the slew of events.
“This is a good problem to have. People are flocking to downtown Springfield … the spin-off effects are tremendous for the taxpaying businesses in the city of Springfield,” said Sarno.
Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood highlighted the department’s plan for easing some of the traffic congestion. She said that the traffic complaints stemming from recent weekend activity helped inform the Police Department’s newly assembled proposal
“We weren’t sure of how it was going to work out with parking and traffic. Now, we know what our issues are,” said Clapprood.
Part of the plan will include additional police details to direct motorist and pedestrian traffic. Officers are expected to be placed between Main and Union streets, Main and State streets, Main Street and Court streets, East Columbus Avenue and State Street, East Columbus Avenue and MGM Way, East Columbus Avenue and Union Street and West Columbus Avenue and State Street during high-traffic events.
Clapprood worked alongside Deputy Chief William Cochrane and Captain Larry Akers in assembling a “fluid plan.” On busy occasions, the Police Department may temporarily close Main Street for 15 to 20 minutes as patrons leave the MassMutual Center. Other high-traffic instances could lead to the temporarily closure of Boland Way to expediate traffic outside of the Monarch Place garage.
Clapprood said the Police Department will continue to monitor the traffic situation and make adjustments accordingly. Clapprood also stressed the department’s experience handling high-traffic situations, such as the city’s annual 4th of July festivities.
“We’re very good at traffic control … We’re going to do it similar to 4th of July, so the people coming out of MGM and the people coming off street parking can move smoothly and get out of the downtown area more efficiently than last weekend,” said Clapprood.
Cochrane said the increased police presence was carefully constructed after analyzing activity over the past few weekends.
“We identified certain intersections where we will be deploying additional police resources to assist traffic flow … This is really a fluid plan, it’s going to change on the fly depending on what we see and what the supervisor sees,” said Cochrane.
Akers reiterated Cochrane’s vision while also imploring Springfield visitors to consider parking options outside of MGM Springfield.
“There are other parking lots other than MGM, and that causes a big problem when everyone flocks to one,” said Akers.
To relieve some of the parking pressure on MGM Springfield, Springfield Parking Authority Director Bokul Bhuiya shared that parking fees for the Dwight Street parking lot will be reduced from $10 to $5.
DPW Director Chris Cignoli said the traffic plan is similar to the scheme used during MGM Springfield’s grand opening ceremonies and other concert events. Cignoli and other city leaders also stressed the importance of patience from the public, noting that high-traffic events will always feature some delays.
“It takes awhile to get out of a parking lot, it always will … It is a plan from the past that has worked, and we know it will work this time,” said Cignoli.
Enterprise leaders, such as Springfield Thunderbirds Managing Partner Paul Picknelly, Thunderbirds President Nathan Costa, MassMutual Center General Manager Sean Dolan and MGM President Chris Kelley, also spoke on how the increased traffic reflects positive economic activity in downtown Springfield.
Picknelly shared that the Thunderbirds continue experiencing growth since he first acquired the team six years ago. Last year, the Thunderbirds saw an average of 5,300 attendees per game. Costa reiterated that the team’s success is aiding the downtown economy.
“Things are moving in the right direction for downtown Springfield. There’s been a lot of excitement around what we’re doing,” said Costa.
Kelley said that addressing the traffic complaints is a “team sport,” while Dolan acknowledged that the collaboration between city and business leaders has been “incredible.”
“We are all in the business of bring people together safely,” said Kelley.
Sarno concluded the press conference by reminding the public of the city’s experience addressing busy traffic situations.
“This is not our first rodeo … This is nothing new, we’ve done this before with major events here,” said Sarno.