Consultants present public feedback and revised scope for Francis Street Beach improvement; further feasibility modeling planned

Consultants leading the Francis Street Beach Improvement Project reviewed public feedback and a revised technical scope for waterfront engineering on Tuesday, saying further coastal modeling and a feasibility assessment will guide selection of a preferred design.

The Washington Street Collaborative Work Group heard that two concept alternatives — an organic “dune swoop” and a more angular beach-overlook design — drew mixed public reaction during two virtual open houses and an online feedback form. “The Dune swoop had a slightly higher average at 3.58, with the beach overlook coming in at 3.15,” Laura (SCAPE team consultant) said, summarizing a combined total of 127 responses from the Mentimeter polls and the virtual survey.

The consultants said the feedback will be combined with new coastal modeling and a structural feasibility assessment to refine a single preferred concept. Joe (Woods Hole Group consultant) described the planned coastal work as a pilot modeling exercise to evaluate redirected flow and how implementing the project might change flood pathways: “we're gonna look at the project as it would be implemented as a pilot,” he said.

Why it matters: the project is framed as a targeted intervention to address flood pathways that currently cross Washington Street in mean high-water and high-tide conditions projected by the local flood model. Consultants said the work focuses on reducing…