3 IMPLEMENTATION A. DESIGN PROCESS AND PRIORITIES A. Design Process and Priorities B. Schedule This Master Plan makes recommendations for the restoration of the Ale- C. Budget wife Reservation and the Alewife Brook and its adjacent parkland. It will D. Funding Sources serve as a framework for the more detailed design stages currently under- E. Required Permits way. The conceptual ideas described herein will be modified and refined, F. Encroachment as the design moves toward construction documents. Critical Reservation Solutions resources such as plant and animal habitat will be revisited to ensure that G. Maintenance and Management they are considered, enhanced, and protected in the final design. The MDC H.Community will provide citizens with opportunities to respond as these detailed plans Involvement and take shape. Stewardship DESIGN PROCESS 1. Master Plan Stage: Visionary plan for the whole area and conceptual designs for selected sites are produced. 2. Design Development Stage: Design elements are refined for certain areas and developed to a higher level of specification. Preliminary cost estimates are produced. 3. Construction Documents Stage: Designs are worked out in detail using drawings, technical written specifications, and a detailed cost esti- mate allowing the recommended restoration designs to be build by a qualified contractor. ALEWIFE MASTER PLAN 51 Metropolitan District Commission planners identified priorities for implementation within the project area at the outset of the Master Plan process. These areas include the Little Pond area, the former ADL parking lot, and the greenway along the west bank of Alewife Brook, and to ensure continuity, a segment on the east side between the Henderson Bridge and Broadway. However, the MDC is commit- ted to implementing all the recommendations put forward in this document to the extent funding allows. Funding to bring the design Figure 69: The greenway west of Alewife Brook is one of for the greenway along the west bank to a more the three priority areas identifi ed and will undergo detailed detailed level has been secured. The MDC is design in the next phase of planning. now seeking funding for 100% design and con- struction documents, specification preparation, by O’Neill Properties (see Section 4A for more and funds for the actual construction that will detail). While there is significant opposition to reclaim and rehabilitate this area, as well as the Belmont Uplands development by those additional funds for the design development concerned with the ecological impacts of this stage for the other two priority areas. This will project, the developer has discussed some miti- be a phased program requiring determination gation options with the MDC. and continued support from the public, con- Although the MDC opposes the development stituents, and elected officials. of any remaining open space around Alewife, In addition to design and implementation of the there are currently limited resources to pur- three MDC priorities, two other major projects chase these private lands. Given this reality in the Reservation area are moving forward. the MDC has worked with O’Neill Properties One is the design of a stormwater wetland in and the town of Belmont to provide as much the Reservation south of the Little River. This protection and mitigation for the Reservation project by the City of Cambridge and the Mas- as possible. Among the numerous beneficial sachusetts Water Resource Authority in con- results will be a gift from O’Neill Properties junction with the MDC is described in more to the MDC of a permanent Conservation Re- detail in Section 4A. The work is being closely striction for approximately 7.8 acres of upland coordinated with the Master Plan team to en- and wetland habitat abutting the Reservation. sure consistency with the goals and objectives defined in this Master Plan for the Alewife B. SCHEDULE Reservation. The improvements this project The time frame for implementation of the rec- will bring to the southern Reservation will be ommendations identified in this Master Plan significant. If these improvements were not in depends on available funding for the necessary process, this southern section of the Reserva- design and construction activities (refer to Sec- tion would be among the MDC’s top priority tion 3D for potential funding sources). The areas listed above. MDC anticipates a 10- to 20-year design and implementation process for this Master Plan. The second project is the development of the Full implementation for the three priority ar- Belmont Uplands adjacent to the Reservation eas is expected to be possible within a 5-year 52 IMPLEMENTATION ALEWIFE MASTER PLAN period. Recommendations that require more extensive study and modeling regarding their 5-YEAR ACTION PLAN feasibility, design development and construc- Spring 2003- Spring 2004: tion (labeled as long-term recommendations in Design development and 100% construc- Section 2C) are not expected to be fully imple- tion documents for West Bank Greenway mented within the 5-year time frame. (area west of Alewife Brook) The development of the design for the identi- Starting 2004: fied priority areas will be the next step in the Design development and construction planning process and is expected to be com- documents for ADL parking lot and Little pleted by the summer of 2004. Partial funding Pond is already secured for this phase of work. Starting 2004-2008: A 5-year action plan follows, based on the Construction of restoration recommenda- assumption that funding can be secured and tions starting with West Bank Greenway, permits can be obtained in a timely manner. followed by ADL parking lot, and Little All those actions will either be executed by the Pond in phases as funding becomes avail- MDC or implemented under close coordina- able tion with the MDC and with MDC’s Master Starting Fall 2003: Planning team. Actions will be consistent with Design development followed by construc- the goals and objectives put forth in this Mas- tion documents for stormwater wetland ter Plan. south of Little River (by others with MDC coordination) C. BUDGET 2004/2005: Cost estimates will be prepared for implement- Anticipated construction of stormwater ing the conceptual designs and Master Plan wetland and associated recreational and recommendations. Recent restoration projects educational features such as boardwalks of similar size cost roughly one million dol- and gathering area south of Little River in lars per mile of greenway. However, restoring a natural channel to the Alewife Brook will Alewife Reservation (by others with MDC raise the cost of improvements along the Ale- coordination) wife Brook Corridor significantly. The MDC is Starting 2005-2008: eager to identify other agencies or businesses Design for remaining areas in the Reserva- that share an interest in the restoration of the tion, especially restoration of Wellington Alewife area. For example recent negotiations Brook and supplementation of boardwalk have been conducted by MDC Planning with and path system as well as de-channeliza- the City of Cambridge and O’Neill Properties tion of Alewife Brook between Route 2 to fund design and construction of portions and Henderson bridge, restoration of the of proposed work within the Reservation and cattail marsh, and restoration of the east within the 7.8 acre Conservation Restriction side of the Parkway including redefining to be gifted to the MDC by O’Neill Properties the Parkway edge with tree planting, his- (see Section 4A for details). toric lighting, etc. ALEWIFE MASTER PLAN IMPLEMENTATION 53 D. FUNDING SOURCES The phased implementation of this ambitious, ecologically oriented Master Plan will require ongoing support and adequate funding. Given the present fiscal climate, it is unlikely that restoration and enhancement of the Alewife Reservation and Alewife Brook corridor can be accomplished solely by support garnered from state funding of the MDC. There must be con- tinued creative exploration by the MDC for al- ternative funding, new productive partnerships, and continued public support. FIGURE 70. Biodiversity Days 2002. From right to left: Mayor Sullivan, Ellen Mass of FAR receiving $2000 Riverways Inventory Grant check from former Secretary Bob Durand, D1. PUBLIC SECTOR SOURCES Representative Alice Wolf, Representative Anne Paulsen, Representative Jim Marzilli State and Federal Programs 1996. This program provides funds for eco- Sources of potential state-level support include system restoration projects up to five million other state agencies that manage state parks, dollars, with a cost-sharing plan that asks the establish wetland mitigation banks, restore project sponsor to share 35% of the cost total. fish and game populations, do transportation The USACE carries the remaining 65%. The planning or river management, or have envi- USACE has shown interest in the past in the ronmental and public health concerns. The restoration of the ADL parking lot, Alewife Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed a Brook, and the cattail marsh and has included $750 million bond bill in 2002 to support envi- these sites among others in the proposed Mas- ronmental capital projects such as these. sachusetts and Cape Cod Bay Ecosystem Res- toration Feasibility Study. Federal funding opportunities include the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), Construction of past and recent MDC green- the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), way restoration projects was mainly possible the US Environmental Protection Agency through funding from the federal TEA-21 pro- (USEPA), the Federal Emergency Management gram. The TEA-21 program derives from the Agency (FEMA), the US Fish and Wildlife Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act Service (USFWS), and the National Marine (ISTEA) authorizing funding of a wide vari- Fisheries Service (NMFS). Recommended eco- ety of transportation infrastructure projects, logical restoration projects (e.g., construction including improvements to public greenways. of a wetland on the site of the former ADL The MDC plans to seek TEA-21 funding for parking lot and dechannelization of Alewife the proposed greenway development on the Brook) will require significant funding.