Department of Public Works Commissioner Erin Chute is pleased to share that the Town of Brookline recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of Phase 2 of the Muddy River Flood Risk Management Project in Boston and Brookline.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, to celebrate the completion of Phase 2 of the project, which was initiated in response to a storm event in 1996 that resulted in overtopping of the banks of the Muddy River as well as several tributary areas, particularly Stony Brook. The stormwater that was not contained by the Muddy River caused severe flooding and extensive damage to the Green Line Station of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, local hospitals, schools and homes.
Phase 1 of the project was completed in March of 2019. Phase 1 work included the replacement of two undersized culverts, daylighting two sections of the river, and modification of a bridge and culvert headwall.
The Phase 2 construction contract was awarded in February 2020 and major construction was completed in October of this year. Phase 2 work consisted of dredging approximately 91,000 cubic yards of sediment to increase the flow capacity of the river, and the restoration of banks and historic landscape in those portions of the landscape impacted by the project.
“The Town of Brookline thanks the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as all of the citizen stakeholders for being such great partners,” Department of Public Works Commissioner Erin Chute stated in her remarks. “Without their assistance, this project would not have been possible.”
The 3.5-mile-long Muddy River flows through the heart of Frederick Law Olmsted’s famed “Emerald Necklace,” one of the most carefully crafted park systems in America and the oldest remaining linear urban park system in the United States.
More information on the Muddy River Flood Management Project can be found here.
