Walking the city section

We took a walk along the city-owned section of the East Boston Greenway, with the chief engineer of the Parks department and members of his crew. This included the engineer who designed the solution for the stagnation of stormwater on the Greenway last year (fondly referred to by some residents as the duck pond).

A number of observations were made along the way:

1. The ‘alternate drainage pathways’ solution put in by the Parks department for the flooding issue seems to be working.
2. A number of areas along this section of the Greenway have been affected by erosion. Such erosion, besides destroying the soil and increasing the risk of mudslides, also brings silt to the drains, threatening blockage of drains leading to the recurrence of flooding.
3. There are some appliances and park benches in need of repair.
4. There are some barren sections of land that could use more grass/vegetation.
5. A number of abutters use of Greenway for dumping, emptying stormwater into (either via downspouts or simply by not providing any filtration mechanisms on their own land which leads the water to naturally flow into the Greenway), even having a gate that opens into the Greenway.
6. Where the EB Greenway meets Marginal Street, Roseland had begun work outside the Massport property boundary. Their work included DPW and Parks department spaces. They did not have permission from the Parks department for the work they were well into when the Parks department asked them to stop.
7. The Crosswalk on Marginal Street appears to be gone, along with the curbcut on the sidewalk closest to the Greenway.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Actions:

1. The Parks department will contact its contractor for reseeding barren surfaces and refilling pits with soil.
2. The Parks department requested that Friends of EB Greenway report disturbing observations and incidents to BOS311 for tracking purposes and for triggering larger projects (that may be warranted based on the number and extent of concerns).