Revere launches neighborhood study to address flooding from Belle Isle Marsh

Revere City and state partners presented results of a new coastal flood-risk study for homes along the Beechmont edge of Belle Isle Marsh and solicited resident experiences and priorities at a public meeting. Kristen, the resilience manager for the North Suffolk Office of Resilience and Sustainability (NSOARS), said the outreach is intended to guide near- and long-term options for flooding that residents already report seeing.

The study team described why the Beechmont “gap” was selected and what it will examine. Connor Austin, coastal scientist at Woods Hole Group, said Belle Isle Marsh is protected and heavily studied: “Belle Isle Marsh itself is an open space, reservation managed by DCR state agency, and it is bordered by East Boston to the West, Beechmont and Revere to the North, and Winthrop to the South and East.” He and other presenters said the marsh is an Area of Critical Environmental Concern with rare habitats and critical infrastructure nearby, and that several projects already under way surround the Beechmont reach.

Project scope and timeline: the Woods Hole Group-led effort covers the Beechmont shoreline and adjoining residential streets (Pearl Ave, Summer St, Crystal Ave and Winthrop Ave). The team said it has completed a wetland resource delineation and a topographic site survey, is conducting a coastal flood-risk assessment, and will perform a cost–benefit analysis before presenting community-preferred alternatives at a May public meeting and in a final…