SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - The city of Somerville is receiving some tech support in the form of new camera sticks designed to crack down on parking problems.
The devices can catch drivers who double park and block traffic. On Wednesday, 7NEWS got a closer look at how the technology works.
“In general it’s hard,” said McKinnon’s Meat Market Manager Rigo Aleman. “For everyone.”
Aleman has been working at McKinnon’s Meat Market for 15 years. He said he sees a lot of double parking on Elm Street near the meat market.
“There’s a lot of traffic and it’s hard to walk for the people, pretty much, when they try to cross the street,” he said.
“It can be dangerous if they don’t pay attention,” he continued.
City officials noticed in recent years that cars parked in a bus lane, in a crosswalk or in front of a fire hydrant in the Elm Street area.
So, they tried a new strategy last year to minimize the parking problem, installing their new solar powered safety sticks. The sticks have a camera inside and capture instances when a driver parks and then leaves their car in an illegal parking zone.
During last year’s pilot program, city officials said they noted more than 400 violations in a span of two months.
“When people see empty spots, especially on the corners, they feel like, ‘Oh it will be OK if I just stop there for a minute,” said Somerville Director of Parking Suzanne Rinfert. “But it’s not usually a minute and a bus can pull up or someone could be in the crosswalk.”
When the safety sticks are activated again, city officials say they will take a picture of a license plate and send it to the city parking department with information on how long the car in question was idle in an illegal spot.
A parking official will then confirm the violation. If a car was in an illegal spot for longer than three minutes, a ticket will be mailed out.
There are currently three safety sticks on Elm Street with a plan to expand to other parts of the city.
Many said they think the program could help.
“People maybe change their behaviors, overall, to keep the roads safer,” said Somerville resident Cypress Frankfield. “It’s a good thing.”
City officials did not know as of Wednesday when the safety sticks will be live. They said they hope the system will be working by the end of the year, though.
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