City of Worcester, MA

WORCESTER, Mass. – The City of Worcester Department of Public Works (DPW), Worcester Fire Department (WFD), and Department of Transportation and Mobility (DTM) debuted its Key Parking Rules campaign Monday to educate residents about year-round parking rules.

Throughout the next few months, the municipality will share educational videos and graphics on social media detailing year-round parking rules which limit where cars can park to allow ample space for emergency vehicles and plows to safely travel down a street. During this period, vehicles found in violation of these regulations will receive educational warning tickets detailing the parking rules, where to find more parking information, and details on how to sign up for ALERTWorcester ahead of the winter’s permanent parking ban. Following this educational period, ticketing and towing enforcement will ramp up.

While the rules are in place year-round, it is critical for residents to abide by them in the winter season.

“If a plow can’t get down the street, we can’t remove the snow and that is a compounding problem,” said DPW Commissioner John Westerling. “If we can’t get down a street, Police and Fire can’t get down the street, and residents can’t get in and out of their streets. Following these parking rules will ensure our streets get cleared in a timely and safely manner.”

“Worcester is a hilly city with a lot of narrow streets. It is difficult for our large fire trucks to get down many of these streets and illegally parked vehicles can make the problem significantly more challenging,” said WFD Chief Martin Dyer. “It is important to have the cooperation of the residents to be parked appropriately and lawfully so that we can safely travel down a street in an emergency where every second is essential. It takes all of us doing our part to ensure that we are keeping our community safe.”

Three key parking rules drivers must adhere to year-round:

• Park 20 feet away from crosswalks and intersections 
• Keep a 12-foot-wide vehicle travel path in the roadway
• Park 10 feet away from fire hydrants

This is the municipality’s second parking education campaign. The first campaign highlighted regulations intended to keep both drivers and pedestrians safe: not parking against the flow of traffic, on sidewalks, or with wheels behind the curb. 

Violations of these regulations will result in ticketing or towing of vehicles. 

For more information on the municipality’s parking rules, visit worcesterma.gov/parking 

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