ROCHESTER — A case of improper parking has prompted Rochester to take a closer look at the street directly in front of town hall.

Vehicles were found parked on and adjacent to a patch of brickwork recently built around the Revolutionary War monument that sits in front of Rochester Town Hall on the other side of Constitution Way, according to Town Administrator Cameron Durant.

In addition to cars parking on the brickwork, which cost $9,000 in labor to lay, vehicles also park by the town hall’s front door across from the monument, in turn blocking the road, Durant said at a Monday, Nov. 18 Rochester Select Board meeting.

Constitution Way passes the front of the town hall and connects to the First Congregational Church of Rochester and the Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library, essentially acting as a Route 105 bypass to access those buildings.

Durant proposed no-parking signs be placed in front of town hall while town engineers conduct a study to possibly construct a sidewalk around the building. The Select Board approved placing the signage by the town hall’s front stairs and the Revolutionary War monument.

“We have people entering the building in a roadway if you will,” Select Board member Adam Murphy said. “It’s kind of dangerous just walking down those stairs into the traffic.”

The town hall currently also has a back door with a ramp that leads to a side parking lot. But the front door is basically on a public road with little buffer.

“I have seen people walk out the door with a cane, trying to make the stairs, and then you have people driving through the front here,” Murphy said. “It’s just a dangerous thing.”

Select Board member Paul Ciaburri further suggested blocking off Constitution Way. He said he once “almost got run over” exiting town hall.

Google Street View imagery dated to August 2023 indicates that two speed bumps were at one point situated on either end of the stretch of the road in front of the town hall. Those speed bumps are not currently present on the street.

Murphy said the town would look at the road and see how it can be improved.