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Maybe they should rename it the East Boston Floodway
By adamg on Sun, 03/19/2017 - 1:57pm
Unlike its better known counterpart across the harbor, the East Boston Greenway floods all the time. That's Mx. to You shows us today's flooding.
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Comments
Man, I hope they clear that
Man, I hope they clear that out before some poor cab driver gets stuck and has to be rescued.
Shouldn't have to worry too much
That's probably the last time a cab even took an Eastie fare anyway.
It's flooded more often than not
And it stays flooded for days after even small rainstorms. A path in a pit like this is always going to be difficult to drain. I wonder if the landscaping could be replanted with water loving wetland plants instead of grass, then build a boardwalk to replace the path.
Back when this was a railroad line ...
did the tracks get flooded just as badly?
The Somerville Community Path has similar drainage problems, especially the part leading off towards North Cambridge. The city is planning to do some repairs this year.
I walk by there all the time,
I walk by there all the time, what does it take to fix this flaw? its city property , right.
Local Government Budget cuts are on its way, Neighbourhood will not see a quick fix to this problem for a very long time.
Some of it is city property, some is state (Massport) property
It goes through several jurisdictions along its route -- probably also some MBTA property where it parallels the Blue Line tracks.
Some questions...
Not knowing the area at all...
* Is it in a 100 year floodplain? If so, then restricting water in requires building a new place of equal volume (under the floodplain) for the water to go. You can't just use fill to raise the height of the path in that case.
* Are there any portions of the pathway that have more width? Enough to build a swale, which would allow raising the path a bit in other places and not force the water to other properties?
* Is the water "connected" to another standing body of water? That is, is it a matter of just finding a place for the water in the greenway to go, or is it a matter of finding a place for much, much more water than that?
Flooding on EB Greenway
Given that East Boston is surrounded by water and is considered an island, flooding should not be surprising. Bremen Street is bordered by what we called the Mud Flats because this area was continually saturated. The East Boston Historic Burial Ground on Bennington Street was built with a sea wall facing the railroad tracks side because the tides used to reach it. When I was a child living on Horace Street, it was not uncommon to see the tides reach from what is now the Al Festa Little League field to the curb on the other side of the street.. When Mass Port built the Neptune Road relocation houses on Horace Street, they asked everyone to sign an agreement that they could not guarantee that this area would not be flooded because these homes were essentially being built on wetlands that had been filled . In fact, over the decades, Mass Port has done so much manipulation with the ocean; land fill to create more Airport space and runways, filling in the harbor and wetlands, creating a beach where one did not exist, no wonder problems with water persist. The area adjacent to the railroad tracks was in a harbor that no longer exists that was once a popular recreational and swimming area. This may explain why there are problems with drainage and free standing water.
Free standing water
Thank you for the historical perspective. It helps.
Do you believe the "free standing water" you refer to indicates ground water level?