Chatham Parking and Circulation Study

Start Date: 2023

Project Overview

The Cape Cod Commission, under the Unified Planning Work Program, is collaborating with the Town of Chatham to conduct a parking and circulation study. This study will identify existing parking trends to better understand motorist and non-motorist circulation in the downtown Chatham area and potential solutions and strategies for the Town to consider for parking management.

Background

Downtown Chatham is home to numerous commercial and recreational activity sites and faces challenges with parking and circulation around the Main Street area. While parking seems plentiful, with Main Street offering free on-street parking along with several free public parking lots – finding a parking place can be challenging during peak times, especially in the summer. Surrounding roadways, Chatham Bars Avenue, Seaview Street and Shore Road are affected by the congestion of Main Street. The narrow, winding configuration of Main Street provides additional navigational challenges for all users, especially for bicyclists.

There are several tasks that the Commission staff will engage in through the duration of this project including: project initiation, data collection and mapping (review existing parking infrastructure including number of spaces, signage, pavement markings, existing traffic volumes, and roadway configurations), meeting with the Chatham Parking Solutions Working Group (PSWG), concept development and refinement, preliminary concepts and summary of feedback, public review of concepts, summary of public meeting, and draft and final report.

Parking Data Collected During Summer 2023

Orpheum Lot [Colonial Building parking lot] (Stage Harbor Road near rotary)
Town Hall
Kate Gould Park (Chatham Bars Avenue)
Veterans Field (next to the Red Nun Bar & Grill on Main Street)
Chatham Community Center
Chatham Light & Overlook (30-minute limit)
Oyster Pond
Chatham Elementary School
Chatham Railroad Museum
Behind the Chatham Squire Restaurant and Yellow Umbrella Books
Eldredge Parking Lot
On-Street Parking (Main Street)
Fish Pier (data collected Summer 2024)

Public Participation:

Public participation will be sought throughout the project. The Commission will work to present project updates to the Chatham Parking Solutions Working Group periodically during the duration of the project. A public meeting was held in July 2024 which provided an overview of the existing data collection efforts and a presentation of potential parking and circulation improvement solutions. The public meeting allowed for the public to provide feedback on potential solutions. A list of the meetings held to date are as follows:

Chatham Parking Solutions Working Group Meeting 1: November 3, 2023 |
Meeting Recording: https://play.champds.com/chathamma/event/1497.
Chatham Merchant's Association Meeting: January 23, 2024
Public meeting & Chatham Parking Solutions Working Group Meeting 2: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 |
Meeting Recording: https://play.champds.com/chathamma/event/1862 | Meeting Summary
Chatham Parking Solutions Working Group Meeting 3: October 18, 2024 | Meeting Recording: https://play.champds.com/chathamma/event/1966