Parking Permits - State Owned Roads

Some roads, particularly in Boston, are not owned by the City, but by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For example, the Jamaicaway/Arborway are state owned roads. Even though they are in the City of Boston, the City cannot issue moving van permits for addresses on state owned roads.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out if a street is state or city owned is to call. The City of Boston parking office is the first place you should try. If they tell you the street belongs to the state then the next step to is call the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) at 617.626.1297. Its possible the DCR will tell you the road in quesiton doesn't fall under their jurisdiction either, but I've never run into that. If the road is their's, the DCR will e-mail you an application. The application must be filled out and returned with a check (as of right now its $100) at least six calendar days prior to the permit date. The paperwork needs to be delivered to their office at 215 Causeway St. Boston and they will give you your permit.

We don't run into this situation very often, but its always good to be prepared for the possibility!