Blue Cities work in Zakim North
Another area of major urban development, and one
that will significantly change the environment along the Charles River
and its neighborhoods is the Zakim North area of Cambridge, Somerville,
and Charlestown. This area, between the old dam at the Museum of
Science and the new Charles River dam and locks, hosts five new parks,
constructed with mitigation funds from the Central Artery Project.
Sizeable new development is planned in this area, notably the North
Point Project, encompassing 45 acres. Plans include approximately 20
buildings, new parks and open space, new transportation elements
including a new MBTA stop, and new infrastructure.
A project of this size, in close proximity to the
river and the new parks, presents major opportunities for improvements
to the urban environment. Using the template developed through the
Harvard-Allston campus project, CRWA is working with the cities of
Cambridge, Boston and Somerville, neighborhood and community groups and
the park advocacy groups involved in the lower Charles River to ensure
that the project is a benefit to the river, park system, and surrounding
environment.
CRWA’s work thus far in
Zakim North includes:
-
Field collection important stormwater quality and flow information.
Flooding, overloaded combined sewers (pipes carrying both stormwater
and sanitary sewage), and undocumented stormwater infrastructure are
some of this area’s most critical environmental problems;
-
Building political and financial support for the development of a
feasible engineering solution to the area’s flooding and water
quality problems, and an outline of phases, costs and responsible
parties for implementing such a solution;
-
Legal research into the complex ownership, licensing, and permitting
issues in the area;
-
Efforts to develop a public private partnership to manage and
maintain the parks in the area.
CRWA has also developed
a framework for identifying opportunities for “green infrastructure”
development which include "daylighting," or opening up, portions of the
now-filled Millers River, and retrofitting streets and other hardscaped
areas with LID Best Management Practices
A stalled regulatory and
enforcement process between the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) and the MBTA, the main landowner in the
study area, has limited our ability to work directly with other property
owners. CRWA is therefore working with Conservation Law Foundation to
determine what the legal environmental obligations of key stakeholders
are, and how the various permit processes could be used to bring the
parties to the table to develop and fund a comprehensive solution.
As we seek to deal with
stormwater management issues in the Zakim North area, some potential
solutions are already emerging. The restoration of the Millers River
corridor would include the design and construction of a stormwater
drainage system that will carry stormwater from the area that was once
drained by the Millers River (greater than 300 acres), perhaps in
phases. The goal would be to provide stormwater drainage for the MBTA,
North Point, portions of Charlestown, portions of Somerville, and
portions of Cambridge, perhaps to include the CE Smith development,
Boston Sand and Gravel, and other private sector neighbors. Primary
goals of this design would be to maximize carrying capacity and water
quality; potential benefits such as public amenity and riparian and/or
aquatic habitat should be considered where appropriate.
|
WATERSHED INFO
