Newton Committee Votes 7-0 to Extend Holly Road Parking Ban on West Side

NEWTON — April 29, 2026 — Newton's Public Safety and Transportation Committee voted 7-0 to expand a parking restriction on Holly Road near Beacon Street after residents testified the original Traffic Council ruling left the most dangerous stretch of the road untouched. The committee, chaired by Councilor at Large Tarik Lucas, amended Traffic Council decision TC62-25 to add a no-parking zone 130 feet north of Beacon Street on the west side of Holly Road — the side where parents regularly idle in cars waiting for a school bus and where, residents said, children step off the bus and walk in the travel lane around parked vehicles. Linda Glantz, a 37-year resident of the east corner, told the committee, "Just doing it on the east side would not mitigate any danger, because nobody ever parks there." A separate roll-call vote on a no-standing amendment, proposed by Councilor Sean Roach to address idling parents who are technically not parked, failed 0-7 after Councilor Randy Block argued the absent parents were a key stakeholder and a no-standing rule would push them farther down a street with no sidewalks. The approved restriction goes to the full City Council for ratification at its next meeting.