Exeter considers Water Street parking meters, new traffic flow and park around bandstand

EXETER — Visitors to Water Street may need to pay to park in the future.

The town is also considering closing the lane of traffic in front of the town hall on Front Street and turning it into a green space, dramatically altering traffic flow around the bandstand in the heart of downtown Exeter.

The town recently concluded a study to improve traffic, parking and pedestrian flow downtown, one that recommends the introduction of parking meters along Water Street and the reconfiguration of intersections around the bandstand among many other improvements.

Evan Drew, of the engineering firm Stantec, said the study, which started August last year, looked into the overall parking inventory and utilization, downtown traffic flow and parking turnover rates.

The study shows that there are 1,586 total parking spaces downtown — both public and private, and on and off-street — with the utilization rate of 57% at its peak. Still, a survey done by Stantec, which received nearly 400 responses, found residents want more downtown parking.

Town planner Dave Sharples said the on-street parking along Water Street and municipal lot on Bow Street are heavily utilized but there is ample parking a short walk from downtown such as the Center Street Lot located across from the post office, and the Stewart Park Lot off Water Street near Phillips Exeter Academy.

Sharples said it’s not a question of needing more spaces but better utilizing the spaces the town already has.

“There’s a lot of parking out there, it's just where do (people park their cars)?” he said.

Jessa Berna, of Stantec, said introducing paid public parking along Water Street would be a win-win situation for the town.

“We believe that bringing back meters may actually be a good way to not only generate a little funds but also to help with that wall of cars we see on Water Street right now to allow there to be more turnover which is great for businesses,” she said. “There’s so much parking available within a three-minute walk of Water Street.”

Reconfiguration of intersection around the Exeter bandstand?

Another recommnded improvement is to reconfigure the traffic around the more than century-old bandstand, the town's busiest intersection, from a three-way to a four-way stop. The bandstand was donated by Ambrose Swasey in 1916, replacing a wooden bandstand built in 1895 at the same location, according to the town of Exeter website.

“There’s some issues with identifying who’s got the right of way,” said Drew. “If someone stopped here but there’s free-flowing traffic trying to take a left and someone’s already stopped on the other side of the bandstand who you may not see, who has the right of way?”

Drew proposes an all-way stop approach to control traffic more efficiently.

His plan eliminates the road closer to the historic town hall and turns the current one-way, two-lane road that’s close to the town office into a two-way road. Another stop sign will also be added for vehicles traveling west-bound on Water Street, creating a four-way stop intersection.

“By doing an all-way stop like this, we’re able to cut the intersection down in size,” he said.

The space between the town hall and current on-street parking on Front Street would be converted into a green space that will stretch beyond the bandstand. According to the study, the green space would also enhance the crosswalks in the area and increase pedestrian safety.

However, Drew said, the plan for the green space is still conceptual. There has also been discussion of switching from angled-parking to parallel parking along Water and Front Street, which would eliminate a few spaces.

Sharples said all recommendations and improvements are still in the preliminary process and Stantec is currently working on a final report for the town. He said any proposed changes would have to go before town officials with input from residents.

“It’s a pressing matter,” he said, referring to downtown parking and traffic improvement. “But we’re going to go through the process and we’re going to make sure we do it right.”

Town planner: Paid parking not a new concept in Exeter

Sharples, who assumed his position in 2016, said parking has always been an issue for Exeter, at least prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said a similar study was done in 2019 looking at the Downeaster train station lot on Lincoln Street.

“The train station lot was 100% full by 7:30 in the morning, every morning,” he recalled.

Sharples said a warrant article proposing the implementation of paid parking at the Downeaster train station lot was approved by voters in 2020, but the town never went through with it when the COVID-19 pandemic lowered the utilization rate of that parking lot from 100% to 0%.

When the world recovered, so did businesses and traffic in other parts of the town. The Downeaster Train Station Lot did too, but it was not as busy as before, said Sharples.

“People that worked from home during the pandemic continued working from home,” he said. “If you go there, there’s probably 10 spots … but there was never a spot after the first or second train in the morning (prior to COVID-19).”

Exeter had parking meters from 1949 to 1973

Exeter historian Barbara Rimkounis wrote in April 2023 of the history of parking meters in Exeter, which ran from 1949 to 1973.

She noted that the meters had never been popular; they often broke and revenue gradually fell short of expectations. Ample free parking at new shopping malls on the outskirts of town caused the town to reconsider paid parking.

"In April of (1973), after receiving a letter of recommendation from the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce, the selectmen voted on a six-month trial lifting the parking restrictions,” wrote Rimkounis. “In August, after favorable responses from the general public, it was decided to remove the old meters. They came down before winter — the snow removal crews had always despised the meters anyway. The era of the parking meter has come to an end."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter NH studies parking meters, traffic flow and park by bandstand