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Select Board-backed committee advances Cole Parkway flood-resilience plan, seeks grants for $5.3–$6.6M project
Summary
The Cole Parkway redevelopment committee selected a preferred conceptual alternative that raises parking grades, adds pedestrian amenities and low concrete flood barriers; consultants warn flanking risks mean longer-term, townwide flood protection will be needed and estimated construction at $5.3–$6.6 million.
The Select Board’s planning advisers moved the Cole Parkway flood-resilience work a step closer to construction after the redevelopment committee endorsed a preferred concept that raises the parking area, improves pedestrian access and includes concrete planters that double as low flood walls.
Alli Varnelli, project manager at Collins Engineers, told the board the preferred alternative prioritizes parking expansion and pedestrian amenities while incorporating green infrastructure and raised grades to limit routine tidal flooding. “This is the option the CPRC voted to move forward with,” Varnelli said, and the firm estimated construction costs for that phase at roughly $5.3 million to $6.6 million.
Consultants also presented a wider Situate Harbor Flood Damage Reduction study showing that a barrier limited to Cole Parkway would be vulnerable to flanking — water coming in around the protected perimeter — unless the alignment is extended to higher ground or supplemented by deployable barriers. Modeling that includes projected sea-level rise to 2030 and 2050 showed low points at Cole Parkway and nearby Mil Wharf becoming inundation pathways during a 1% (100-year) storm surge. Collins’ team said a design flood elevation of about 12 feet would be needed to meet a 2050 1% storm scenario, while the short-term Cole Parkway grade changes would use lower elevations (around 9 feet) to balance functionality and cost.
Board members and harbor business owners debated trade-offs between parking and longer-term flood protection. One Select Board member recommended pursuing the larger, waterside protection alignment to include private property where necessary; others favored the staged approach to secure grant funding and make near-term improvements that will improve usability now. Corey, the town’s project liaison, said she was pursuing FEMA BRIC and other grants and outlined a phased funding strategy to move the project through design and permitting.
Next steps include a public outreach meeting, regulatory permitting work, and a benefit–cost analysis for the broader flood-damage reduction alternative. The redevelopment committee’s preferred Cole Parkway alternative will proceed to detailed design and continued grant pursuit.
