BRATTLEBORO — Closing the High Street entrance to Harmony parking lot is a serious mistake.
The Harmony lot was, at one time, one of the best revenue resources for the town's parking system. Being the most productive lot for revenue also meant that it was one of the most popular, most convenient, and easiest parking areas for anyone to try to park in downtown.
The entrance was the pathway to downtown. If one approached downtown from the north, the egress to parking was to go up High into the tunnel and, if one could not find a space, they could then go to the Transportation Center to find a space.
A person wanting access to parking coming down High Street, a major state route, had very convenient access to this parking area.
The invitation of this pattern of traffic was a great convenience to Main Street accessibility. Take in consideration the access a consumer has to all areas of the downtown from this location. When a traffic pattern is disturbed it then creates the need for diversion.
Now, a driver must pass through two traffic signals to find the entrance to the Harmony lot, then go out and then go to the Transportation Center if the Harmony lot is full. While this might seem simple, it very definitely has an effect at the front of the experience that makes this route a much different experience.
As a business person in Brattleboro, and a longtime past member of the parking and traffic committees, it is my experience that we should attempt to not change things for the worse for the shopper. I am sure that aesthetically it would be nice to have a park in this location. I am also sure that type of area would attract many different types of casual people.
Harmony lot has a history of needing to be carefully monitored by the police. I would also think that the Brooks House would love to have as many people shopping downtown as some tenants are stores that need shoppers.
At this time, the Brooks House still has two storefronts vacant. The longevity of their tenants' businesses, as well as many others in the downtown, depends on significant traffic of shoppers. As a business person, I cannot think that this traffic wouldn't be an extremely strong benefit for all their businesses.
I would invite the new owners of the Brooks House to reconsider this new option of closing the tunnel to the old entrance of traffic to the Harmony Lot. If they desire a park, they also should think of a smaller version while still allowing open access through the tunnel to the parking area.
I also would like to point out that, while the owners definitely have a big investment in the Brooks House, many benefits have been provided by the state and other agencies to help restore this very important asset to the community.