Somerville, MA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 5-2 of the Somerville Traffic Commission Regulations governs every marked service zone in the city. A vehicle may not park in a service zone for more than 30 minutes and only while actually engaged in loading or unloading. Passenger vehicles get a shorter allowance: five continuous minutes to receive or discharge passengers. Commercial vehicles are allotted 20 continuous minutes to load or unload materials, except that zones in and around Davis Square are marked 'Delivery Vehicles Only' and carry their own restriction. The precise location of every service zone citywide is fixed by Schedule C, which the regulation incorporates by reference, so a curb only counts as a loading zone where it is posted and listed in that schedule.

00 fine specifically for a loading zone violation, drawn from the same fine schedule that lists penalties for other parking violations. Enforcement runs under General Laws Chapter 90, Section 20A½, the statute governing municipal parking violations, and Section 11-1 holds the vehicle's owner prima facie responsible for the violation whenever the driver's identity cannot be determined. Separately, loading zones posted with an official 'Tow Zone' sign are subject to towing under the article covering vehicle removal, so a vehicle left too long or blocking a posted zone risks more than the ticket.

Somerville's loading zones therefore combine a hard time cap with an owner-liability rule and a specific dollar fine rather than leaving enforcement to a general parking statute.