Novoselsky’s motion about crosswalks draws considerable discussion

Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky wasn’t expecting a major debate about his request to prohibit the parking of motor vehicles within 10 feet of a crosswalk. But the issue certainly drew a lot of conversation and suggestions from his colleagues.

Novoselsky said he was traveling on North Shore Road near the crosswalk that leads toward Wonderland Marketplace “and the vehicles were parked right up to the line to the crosswalk.”

“There’s no way that somebody could poke their head out if a vehicle was coming and not get hit [by the oncoming vehicle],” related Novoselsky.  “I checked with Sergeant [Chris] Giannino and he told me there is no limit – it’s line to line on the crosswalk on parking. He said that cities can make their own rules so I’m asking the Traffic Commission include it in the Revere ordinances that there be no parking within 10 feet on either side of the crosswalk.”

Novoselsky noted correctly that there are state regulations that prohibit parking within 20 feet of an intersection, but his request (within 10 feet) would apply to crosswalks that are situated between intersections.
Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo reasoned that once you prohibit vehicles from those parking spaces, “you’re probably going to lose hundreds of parking spaces throughout the city.”

Councillor-at-Large Jessica Giannino suggested that the Council’s public works sub-committee look into what other surrounding communities have been doing in relation to the proposed 10-feet-from-a-crosswalk parking regulation.

“Ten feet [to a crosswalk] to me sounds a little aggressive,” said Giannino. “On a small side street, that’s a big piece of the street. I would be interested to see what other communities are doing.”
Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso said he also wants to see more
information on the issue, notably the number of parking spaces that a new regulation would affect.

Guinasso added that the issue would likely be addressed when Revere’s new resident-parking program goes into effect in the spring. He also requested that the issue be further reviewed by the Council’s public works sub-committee before it is sent to the Traffic Commission.
Ralph DeCicco, chair of the Revere Commission on Disabilities, supported Novoselsky’s motion.

“It [parking] should definitely be 10 feet [from the crosswalk],” said DeCicco. “It’s a safety factor. But actually crosswalks should only be done where there’s traffic signals at intersections. Crosswalks should not be in existence in the middle of streets. They should only be at intersections. It’s a false-positive to cross at a crosswalk when it’s not an intersection.”
Novoselky’s motion was referred to sub-committee.