Waltham Mayor Eyes Closing Moody Street To Help Restaurants

WALTHAM, MA — With a number of businesses — from hair salons to car washes — opening as the governor's reopening plan for the state gets under way, Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said she is eyeing how to take care of Waltham's restaurants.

"We're very concerned about the restaurants; they cannot survive on 25 percent of their business," she said in a video update posted online Tuesday afternoon.

McCarthy said she is asking the traffic commissioner to close Moody Street to vehicular traffic from Pine and Crescent streets to High Street in an effort to give that space to restaurants to move seating outside.

She also said she's looking at using parking spaces on Main Street to do something similar for restaurants there.

She said she's working with other city officials to find ways to come up ways to help restaurants, especially smaller ones get back in business.

As of May 25, a number of businesses are permitted to open, provided they follow the governor's guidelines regarding wearing of masks, distancing and only permit 25 percent of the building capacity.

Restaurants have been permitted to stay open throughout the pandemic, but only for take-out or delivery orders. A number of Waltham restaurants have decided to close temporarily, amid the hardship.

Phase 2 of the state's opening, which might not come before June 15, would include opening restaurants to limited capacity seating, according to the state.

McCarthy said the city council will hold a meeting soon to look into temporary ordinance changes to help facilitate relief to small businesses and restaurants.

"We don't want the small businesses to go out of businesses, that would be tragic," she said.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Waltham Patch? Here's how to post a press release, opinion piece.