Dill's Court Municipal Parking Lot Improvements Start Sunday Night in Melrose

The City will be repaving Dill's Court municipal parking lot (Shaw's lot) starting Sunday night, according to a press statement.

The parking lot will be closed beginning 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 19 and re-opening at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, according to the statement.

The improvement project will re-pave the entire parking lot and add 10-15 parking spots through re-striping, read the statement. Catch basins will also be added to address drainage issues, along with improved pedestrian crosswalks and signage, according to the statement.

"These improvements will not only increase downtown parking but also safety through drainage improvements and signage," said Mayor Rob Dolan in the statement. "Projects of this nature are critical as we continue to foster a pro-business environment in Melrose."

The current configuration of entrances and exits will remain the same, read the statement.

A past concluded that more parking and improvements were needed at the site.

While work is underway at the site, the City has suggested residents consider using any of these five alternative parking locations: 

• City Hall parking lot
• St Mary’s municipal parking lot (Off Myrtle Street, adjacent to Larrabee municipal parking lot)
• Larrabee municipal parking lot (Behind Hugo’s, between Grove Street and TD Bank Parking Lot)
• Friends Court municipal parking lot (Behind Papa Gino’s Pizza and Eastern Bank, between Grove Street and E. Foster Street)
• Field’s Court municipal parking lot (Behind Gerry’s Pizza, off Central Terrace)

The work will include:

1. Pothole and existing trench patch repairs;

2. Leveling course of bituminous to address drainage issues;  

3. Installation of additional catch basins (this work is already completed);

4. Re-paving of the parking lot;

5. Re-stripping adding at least 9 more parking spaces;  

6. Pedestrian crosswalk from Cerretani Way to CVS back door;

7. Parking space line painting;

8. One-way arrow painted on Cerretani Way;

9. A one-way arrow sign on Myrtle St at Cerretani Way; and

10. New parking lot signs

City Engineer Robert Beshara, P.E., said the weather looks promising and that there shouldn't be any issues causing the project to be delayed.

On Wednesday, Beshara briefly discussed the work that will be done at the site.

"We already added some catch basins in there at some low points and we have some low points that don't require catch basins, but we're going to do some pavement leveling courses in there that get rid of those low points and move them toward the catch basins," Beshara said. "We're going to repair any potholes or trenches, pave the entire parking lot and then we're going to re-stripe it and we'll probably get nine or 10 new spaces in there.

"We're going to put up new signage inside the parking lot, and we're working with the planning department on some new signage to direct people to the parking lot."

Melrose-based D&R General Contracting will bring a full paving crew, which usually consist of 6-8 workers, according to Beshara.