Traffic and Parking Department

Mission Statement:

To provide an efficient and reliable multimodal transportation system throughout the City of Salem including complete streets that accommodate all users – pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and drivers. Provide pleasant and secure parking services to residents, businesses and visitors, while maintaining courteous and helpful assistance to the general public.

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program:

The goal of the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program is to implement small-scale, inexpensive projects to calm traffic on local, residential streets by using semi-permanent materials to test ideas that can become hardened and permanent if successful. These projects can be initiated by residents or the Traffic and Parking Department, but in both cases will involve a collaborative process with residents, Traffic and Parking Department staff, the Ward Councillor, and the Police Traffic Unit. The program is intended to fund projects costing less than $25,000, but most projects will likely be substantially less expensive. The program is intended to complement other funding for streets and sidewalks, not replace the larger repaving and repair work that already happens or other major intersection projects.

The application for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program can be found here: https://www.salem.com/traffic-and-parking-department/files/neighborhood-...

More information about the program and examples of traffic claming projects can be found here: https://www.salem.com/sites/salemma/files/uploads/neighborhood_traffic_c...

Intersection "No Parking" Curb Painting:

In an effort to improve public safety and provide clarity regarding allowed parking locations, the City of Salem’s Traffic and Parking Department will begin painting curbs red in locations where parking is prohibited. This work is being carried out as part of the City’s ongoing Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program.

State law and local ordinance prohibit parking within twenty (20) feet of an intersection to ensure pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users are visible when in the roadway and that drivers have adequate sightlines. Painted curbs are a visual cue to indicate where parking is prohibited and are less visually intrusive than signs. In particularly problematic locations, however, the City may opt to install signage to remind drivers of the parking restriction.

If you would like a particular curb location painted in your neighborhood, please send a request to Acting Traffic and Parking Director Nick Downing at ndowning@salem.com indicating the specific intersection(s) you wish to see painted. The Department will prioritize and implement the requests as resources permit.

2018 Proposed Parking Rate Restructuring:

Following the collection of extensive parking data over the past few months, at its next meeting on June 7 at 6:30pm at 98 Washington Street, the Traffic and Parking Commission will begin a discussion on proposed parking rate restructuring for downtown Salem. It has been nearly 10 years since the City’s last comprehensive review of parking rates, and in that time the parking issues in Salem have changed dramatically. In 2010, the goal was to restructure rates in order to move cars into underutilized locations. Today, those locations have, in some cases, become over-utilized as the City has seen continued economic growth and commercial activity throughout downtown and along the waterfront. Salem garages routinely hit 85% capacity on weekdays and weekends, and on-street parking is equally scarce. What is more, while parking rates have been unchanged in this time, over the same period the cost for maintenance and upgrades to these parking facilities has only grown. By restructuring rates we can both better manage parking utilization and also fund these costs through revenues paid by those who use the parking, without needing to overly rely on taxpayers.

More information on the proposal can be found here: https://www.salem.com/traffic-and-parking-commission/files/2018-proposed...

The presentation to the Traffic and Parking Commission can be found here: https://www.salem.com/sites/salemma/files/uploads/parking_rate_restructu...

Important Snow Emergency Information for City Parking Garages: