City Changes Parking on Furnace Street

Blog post by Jim Perris, Old Town Neighborhood Association Board VP

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026 Will Farley, Assistant City Engineer, contacted Jim Perris, Vice President of the Old Town Neighborhood Association (“OTNA”), to notify OTNA that the City will be changing both the west and east sides of Furnace Street, between Wilbur and Ladd Streets, to ‘No Parking’.  A work order has been submitted to the maintenance department to post signs.

The decision brings a successful conclusion to over a year of work by OTNA to facilitate the change.  A unanimous vote by the OTNA Board requesting the change led to significant written communication between OTNA and the City, meetings with leaders from City Council, and the Police, Fire, Traffic and Engineering, Parks and Recreation, and Communication departments. 

A core issue brought to the City’s attention is during periods of high use at George Rogers Park (“GRP”) the Old Town neighborhood becomes overflow parking.  Furnace Street in particular has the potential to become unsafe for pedestrians and impassable for fire personnel in the event of an emergency.   Additionally, the width of the road does not allow legal parking on either side of the street.  No parking along Furnace resolves both these issues. 

The following pictures partially illustrate the issues.

Furnace Street between Wilbur and Ladd Streets. with cars parked on both sides and people also driving both ways on the street. Pedestrians and cyclists also use the middle of the road to come and go from the park.

Wilbur Street intersection to Furnace Street leading to the park to the right

Photos below are of parked cars along Furnace Street between Wilbur and Ladd Streets.  Note that all the vehicles have been ticketed by the LO Police Department.  In the event of an emergency the street could easily become impassible.  The neighbors worked with the LO Fire Department to ensure safe passage.