Consultants refine French Street beach boardwalk design, flag permitting and ADA trade-offs

Consultants presented revised schematic designs and a permitting strategy for the French Street Beach Improvement Project during the Washington Street Collaborative Work Group’s Oct. 24 meeting, emphasizing a higher boardwalk alignment, consolidated access points and regulatory constraints that will shape final plans.

Laura (project presenter) said the schematic-design phase is on track for an end-of-year submission, with cost analysis and operations-and-maintenance guidance continuing into the next year. The design team introduced Lena Smart, “project manager and designer,” who walked members through a plan that reduces redundant beach access, raises the boardwalk above the mean high-water line and preserves a 15-foot minimum dune crest with an approximately 10:1 slope toward the water.

The revisions aim to balance resilience, permitting and future connectivity. “We’ve been building on the dune swoop and factoring in the future connection,” Laura said, adding the plan accommodates the kayak concession’s leased area and restroom access.

Design details presented by Lena Smart show two access points from Washington Street: a northern access that requires stairs because of grading constraints, and a southern, accessible entrance with an adjacent parking stall and ramp. The plan preserves a ramp for beach access and adds an overlook and seating intended for future-phase expansion.

Material and safety choices were discussed in light of grading and ADA requirements. The team said it had minimized sections that require continuous guardrails by ensuring deck-to-dune drops are within an 18-inch limit, but noted a required ramp slope of roughly 8.33 percent where a guardrail will be needed. Todd (project team) described retaining-wall elements used to hold dune sand at property lines, saying the team proposes buried, noncorroding elements (FRP or similar) that would be largely concealed by dune fill and might be temporary at the north end to enable future integration in a second phase.

Operational concerns surfaced for the kayak concession. Matt (meeting participant) cautioned that handrails could complicate moving kayaks and gear on and off the beach: “If the ramp for beach access is gonna be how the…kayak guy gets his stuff on and off the beach…you have to think about how it’s gonna be used,” he said. The team agreed to set up a meeting with the concessionaire to understand operational needs and to study the ramp and railing in three dimensions.

An abutter, referenced throughout as Mr. Wolf, told town representatives he plans to extend a bulkhead on his property; Vince (participant) reported the abutter was “receptive to the idea that the town could work with him to assist with permitting,” but emphasized there were no commitments. The team recommended meeting with the abutter and coordinating before any town assistance or commitments.

Permitting constraints were a central theme. Adrienne (permitting expert) said the project will involve multiple state and local authorities — including DEP, the Office of Coastal Zone Management, the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Division of Fisheries & Wildlife and shellfish/marine-fisheries interests — and must address overlapping jurisdictional standards. She noted two regulatory pinch points: a coastal-beach standard that forbids projects from adversely affecting adjacent beach grades, and coastal-dune guidance that generally favors elevated boardwalks because they keep people off dune vegetation.

Those rules shaped the design choices: to avoid lateral impacts on abutter property the team simplified and straightened dune grading and adjusted the boardwalk footprint. Adrienne also said the team will make an ADA-hardship case to justify a larger-than-recommended boardwalk footprint because the project seeks continuous ADA access from Washington Street, over the dune, seaward toward the beach. “At this point in the design, some of it is going to be directed by permitting constraints,” Adrienne said.

On beach access, the team discussed whether a permanent wood ramp, buried landing, or seasonal solutions such as MobiMats are appropriate. Todd said cross-shore modeling to date shows limited erosion at the site, and that a buried ramp or seasonal matting may be feasible; the consultants will continue modeling to refine that choice.

Other near-term items the group identified: advancing stormwater modeling with Hazen, arranging follow-up meetings with the kayak concession and Mr. Wolf, resolving sidewalk/pedestrian-refuge details at the Washington Street intersection, and continuing coordination with Woods Hole Group and the PAR team on dune performance and grading.

The work group set its next meeting for Nov. 14 to review permitting progress, stormwater results and design refinements. No formal votes were taken.