A combination of unseasonably warm weather and the Morses Pond gate being closed now that the swimming hole is closed for the summer has led to a crazy parking situation over in the Woodlands neighborhood of Wellesley.
Neighbors are pleading with the town to give people access to the Morses Pond parking lot, citing noise, safety and cleanliness issues with the current situation. They’re also urging police to ticket cars parked illegally, sometimes blocking gate access/emergency access.
Some visitors swim at the pond even though lifeguards are now down for the year (a sign does warn swimmers they do so at their own risk), while others just want access to the trails and beach to walk or run.
Wet weather expected this coming weekend could settle things down temporarily, though a return to temperatures in the 80s next week could heat them right back up. And the larger issue of what to do about all this remains. It sounds as though the Board of Selectmen, Natural Resources Commission, Morses Pond neighbors and others in town might need to put their heads together on this.
We’re new to Town this year, and we love the pond. We were surprised to learn, however, that it closed so early (I get that the college kids who make up the bulk of the lifeguard corps have to get back to school, but still, coverage at least on weekends through Labor Day would be nice.)
In any case, while I realize this (apparently) sounds ridiculous to many around Town (we came from a large-municipality-east-of-here-not-to-be-named), perhaps folks might consider riding a bike to get to the pond? That’s what we did all summer (we live near Whole Foods), and it worked out beautifully. Get yourself some exercise and stop driving your fellow townsfolk crazy! It’s a win-win.
The root cause of this problem is that the gate allowing access to the Morse Pond parking lot is / has been locked and NO explanation has been provided by Wellesley city why this should be the case.
It is understandable that this irritates local residents because it is so unnecessary; I would point out that at Crystal Lake in Newton where there is a situation directly comparable with this, the public parking lot remains open, even after the summertime lifeguarding operation has been wound up.So get your act together Wellesley and follow the example of Newton !