BOSTON — Glocuester is reopening its parking lots to non-residents after locking down much of the town this past weekend to keep non-residents off the local beaches.
With high tides expected last weekend, the town sought to cut down on the massive crowds that turned out the previous weekend, making social distancing difficult.
Beach turnout was sparse over the past weekend, with residents being able to stay far apart as the city implemented widespread resident-only parking.
“This weekend we saw far less traffic, and I’m thankful to everyone who helped everything go smoothly, including my staff, the City Council, Department of Public Works, the Police Department, our new Beach and Park Rangers, the Health Department, Bob Ryan and the Traffic Commission, as well as our residents,” Mayor Romeo Theken said. “If our beaches become overwhelmed or if capacity is reduced because of tides, we may have to limit access again in the future.”
For the upcoming weekend, the parking lots at Good Harbor and Wingaersheek Beaches will be open to residents and a limited number of non-residents, at a reduced capacity. Stage Fort Park will be open to the public.
Non-residents will be required to pay daily parking rates at the gate.
For the remainder of the summer, the City of Gloucester will announce any parking restrictions for the coming weekend on the Wednesday prior. Real time parking updates will also be posted regularly to the Gloucester Beaches Facebook page run by the city at @gloubeaches.
On weekends the parking lots typically fill up by 9 a.m. and begin to reopen in the afternoon. While visitors wait to get into the beach parking lots, the City welcomes people to enjoy all that Gloucester has to offer, including whale watches, fishing charters, museums, parks, restaurants, fresh seafood, artisans and more.
— City of Gloucester
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