WATERVILLE — Motorists can expect to see a new parking arrangement soon on The Concourse downtown as construction of a Colby College residential mixed-use building starts at the corner of Appleton and Main streets.
Designated all-day and short-term parking spaces now are in various locations on The Concourse, but soon all-day parking will be in the south-central area of the large lot, and two-hour parking will be around the perimeter for shoppers’ convenience. The number of all-day spaces will not be reduced.
The city’s Public Works Department will install signs on lampposts on The Concourse that will show where short- and long-term parking will be, according to City Engineer Greg Brown.
“This is just advance notice that changes are coming and that the signs will be erected within the next couple of weeks,” Brown said.
Workers next week will put up a construction fence around the northeast tip of The Concourse, where the residential mixed-use building will be built, according to Paul Ureneck, director of commercial real estate for Elm City LLC, an affiliate of Colby College.
“Concrete Jersey barriers will be installed along the Main street boundary on Monday,” Ureneck said Friday. “The safety-security fence will be installed on Tuesday.”
About 90 parking spaces on the Colby site will be eliminated to make way for construction. Ureneck said people wanting to get regular updates on construction may go to Watervillepartnership.org, a website Colby created.
Brown said that once parking signs are set up on The Concourse, stars painted on many parking spaces that now designate all-day parking will be painted over and covered up, as they no longer will be used. It was difficult for people to see the stars when vehicles were parked over them, and in winter they often were covered with snow and ice, he said. He noted that long-term parking is not just for people wanting to park all day, but for those who wish to park just a few minutes, a half hour or a few hours.
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