Gloucester residents should "feel very fortunate" that a new, larger Department of Motor Vehicles office has opened at Hayes, DMV commissioner Richard Holcomb said during Monday’s ribbon cutting ceremony at the York River Crossing Shopping Center.

DMV relocated its customer service center from a building on Route 17 just south of Gloucester Court House to the shopping center, officially opening the new center on May 21.

Holcomb said that the new office is a rare occurrence because of tight state budgets. Only one other replacement office has occurred statewide over the past few years, he said.

The new office offers a more convenient location, with more space to accommodate customers waiting to be served. The new quarters include some new equipment, as well as restrooms, which he said had been oft-requested at the former location.

The old office, which was opened in 1995, was closed after regular work hours on May 16. The DMV 2 Go mobile office was parked in fr...