If at first you don’t succeed, try, again. And if that doesn’t work…then maybe try five more times. Such has been the approach to analyzing and proposing solutions to Warren’s downtown parking situation.

Depending on who you ask, the availability of parking (or lack thereof) throughout the center of Warren is either out of control, and getting worse with each passing year, or is simply an indicator that the existing infrastructure and prevailing attitudes among people who park downtown is in need of some tweaking.

Derrick Trombley, who chairs the Town’s Economic Development Board, presented the newest findings on the parking situation last week before the Warren Town Council.

He began by addressing the elephant in the room — that parking studies have been conducted in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2009, and just last year in 2022, without much changing as a result. However, Trombley said that analyzing those different studies revealed common threads that informed their most recent findings.

“What they have found is pretty consistent,” he said. “Parking regulations are not clearly marked, [there is] underutilization at peak times, parking times are too long and inconsistent. There’s a lack of identity and overabundance of signing, and poor signage design.”

Trombley showed in the presentation multiple examples of confusing signage, including those signs you’ve likely seen along Main and Water Streets that prohibit parking to the left or right of an arrow, which can be jarring when one finally spots a seemingly clear stretch of sidewalk free from hydrants or driveways. He showed examples of curbs that, at one time, were clearly painted yellow to indicate no parking was allowed. Those have long become faded and ineffective at alerting people to their original purpose.

Additionally, Trombley emphasized that the Town doesn’t adequately direct people to available public parking areas, specifically the lot behind Town Hall and the Park n’ Ride lot on Franklin Street.

Trombley presented a two-tiered approach to improving parking outcomes.

Signs, signs, let’s redesign the signs
Trombley said that the first step would be to replace aging, sun-bleached, and confusing signage with new, colorful and attractive signs at 11 locations throughout the downtown. Since the Warren Department of Public Works recently received approval to purchase a sign fabrication machine, Trombley estimated that making 20 new signs would come at a cost of about $3,800.

There is potential for cost savings too, he said, as local businesses could potentially bid for the rights to advertise on the signs. Signs could have various designs and purposes — some to simply indicate the areas where public parking exists, some to direct people to attractions, and others to help create a more cohesive and branded feel to the historic portion of town. Trombley pointed to neighboring Bristol as a model for consistent, effective signage that simultaneously creates a unique identity and feel to the town.

The Council was receptive to the idea of refreshing signage throughout the downtown, and unanimously approved a public meeting to be organized to discuss design options and get feedback from residents. As of press time, that meeting had not yet been scheduled.

Parking enforcement
Trombley also stressed that enforcing parking rules is the other foundational issue to be aware of.

“I don’t suppose the police force really has the manpower to control that, but I don’t know,” said Councilman Brandt Heckert.

Trombley said that the Board had looked into the possibility of contracting to an outside entity to enforce parking throughout the town, but didn’t provide a proposed cost for such a service. He said that they were also open to exploring shared parking agreements between private and public property owners, shuttle bus service, and potentially parking meters; although the parking meter proposal was met with a sense of unease from business owners and some members of the Council.

Trombley concluded that further discussions were needed to figure out the enforcement angle.

“We’re still working on having conversations with stakeholders and town partners, with DPW, DOT, and other key important peoples to try and get this done,” he said. “But we believe this would represent a good, positive step to take regarding our parking situation.”

Trombley said that last year’s study — conducted by McMahon Associates for $10,500 and which disappointed members of the Town Council due to its limited scope and findings, — ultimately identified 742 total available spaces in town. He commented that part of the problem appears to be behavioral; a lament that was shared by former Town Planner, Bob Rulli, who would often say Warren didn’t have a parking problem, but a “parking management” problem.

“The problem with the parking in downtown Warren is that everyone wants to park within sight distance of where they’re going,” Trombley said. “But we think that we can change peoples’ behavior through this program by directing them to where there’s publicly-available parking in a safe area and installing these signs to direct them to where they will be parking and where they will be going. So they can park in less highly trafficked areas and alleviate the problems we’re seeing down town with people parking on side streets.”