Council approves permanent parking changes, weekday time limits near Henry K. Oliver School

The Lawrence City Council voted April 15 to adopt an on-street parking plan for the new Henry K. Oliver School that creates a dedicated student drop-off lane on Oak Street, removes 23 parking spaces on Oak and establishes one accessible parking space on Haverhill Street, along with a raised crosswalk and new signage. Councilors also amended the adopted order to limit the no-parking restriction to weekdays from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The change is intended to reduce pedestrian risk and address an above-average crash rate at the intersections immediately adjacent to the school, the council heard at a public hearing attended by city planners, school officials and the project design team. The council adopted the plan after debate over neighborhood parking loss and enforcement; the revised time window was approved as an amendment and carried on a roll call vote.

Traffic and design rationale

Daniel McCarthy, the city’s planning director, introduced the project team. Wayne Kiefner, the project traffic engineer, said the crash rate at the studied intersections was “way higher” than…