During
a forum to solicit feedback on the work of the Lower Mystic River
Corridor Strategy project last Wednesday night, Metropolitan Area
Planning Council (MAPC) planners unveiled Phase 2 of the project that
began in 2007. The purpose of the project, planned for the cities of
Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, and Somerville, is to bring
the neglected waterway that encompasses 76 square miles of watershed
(though the project is restricted to the six-city area) from the Lower
Mystic Lake all the way up to East Boston.

"This area has not
realized its full potential," said Mayor Joseph Curtatone, before
introducing MAPC planners. "We have a river that we can use as a
regional asset. It's exciting to undergo this study."

Thus
far, the project's steering committee has met six times, and last
unveiled it's progress during a public form in Everett last January.
This meeting outlined the six strategies that the steering committee
has come up with since then. A synopsis of some key points are as
follows:

1. Acquire, protect, enhance, and link regionally
significant open space parcels-While the Mystic River Reservation is
fairly complete in Medford, there is much less open space in the lower
reaches of the river. The steering committee identified ten parcels,
including the Assembly Square area (1.5 acres of DCR-owned upland
currently used only seasonally for boat storage) and the Sullivan
Square connector trail (a new pedestrian link between Draw 7 Park and
the Route 99 Bridge).

2. Enhance and encourage sustainable
development and redevelopment along the corridor-Development along the
Mystic River has historically been industrial. The six cities have
identified important developments currently underway, such as the
Assembly Square mixed-use plan and the Rivers Edge project in Everett,
Medford and Malden. These projects should use green building, native
landscaping, and trail construction. MAPC should also provide an
analysis of Brownfield priorities.

3. Improve access to and
along the river through the development of water transportation, public
transit, roadway improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian
accommodations-Priority transportation projects include the Green Line
Extension to Route 16, the I-93/Mystic Avenue Interchange, and the
Orange Line station at Assembly Square.

4. Work with regional
partners to influence policy and ensure that agencies and organizations
have sufficient resources to effect change on the Mystic River-Elements
of this strategy include asking the MAPC to work with the Environmental
Protection Agency (as the EPA recently began a new Mystic River
Initiative in April 2008), asking the MAPC and six cities to work with
the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and with the
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to work on eliminating combined
sewer overflows.

5. Develop and advocate for a strong
legislative response to Mystic River needs-The state Legislature is a
critical partner to revitalize the lower Mystic River. MAPC and the six
cities can work to create a Mystic River Water Quality Commission that
includes full city representation (originally House Bill 841 in the
2007-2008 Legislative session). The bill has been refiled for the
2009-2010 session and pending a final bill number.

6. Develop
and maintain an information clearinghouse-Although many agencies
involved in the Mystic River issues maintain Web sites, information
must collaboratively reach the public.

Visit www.mapc.org to
access a PDF of this report, which describes the above in detail, and
also contains various maps of the region. Look to the "Smart Growth"
tab on the left of the home page, and scroll down to the Mystic River
project, and the array of PDFs.

Part of initiative number six
has already been completed. MAPC recently developed a "dynamic" map of
the lower Mystic, also located at www.mapc.org. In addition, MAPC
recently updated its Web page to make it more user-friendly, and has
been working on a more robust email list, said Joan Blaustein, MAPC's
project manager.

The MAPC is proud of its interactive map, which
people can zoom into, move around, and zoom out to see how the Mystic
River project relates to surrounding neighborhoods. Blaustein asked the
audience to play around with the map, and contact her if there are any
suggestions to improve it. The map also contains links to other ongoing
projects, such as the Green Line Extension.

Marc Draisen, the
MAPC executive director, said that two lessons learned thus far come to
mind. First, cities and towns must work together to figure out what
will work for the major corridors, which includes the riverway.

"The
Charles River received a good amount of attention, but we haven't paid
attention to this riverway," Draisen said. "I know that money is tight,
and that we can't fund everything right away, but we can use this time
to prioritize."

Second, people need to focus on the future
needs, he said, again, stressing prioritizing. "Planning is only as
good as the implementation that follows it," he said, adding that this
night was the kick off for the implementation phase.

People in
the audience mainly asked about land acquisition issues-including
whether land could be taken to revert it back to its natural
habitat-and toxic waste, pollution, and water run-off issues.

Blaustein
said that the MAPC is working with the Mystic River Watershed
Association to assess water quality data and zeroing in on any "hot
spots." The MAPC has looked at a host of land acquisition issues and
prioritized where they can make the most progress. They are open to
hearing from people about other acquisition possibilities, Blaustein
aid.

"It is easy for us to prioritize open space," Draisen
said. "If our map can help us find critical Brownfields, if a site
appears to be useful, then we prioritize it. We can clean it up and use
it in a more recreational way. It is difficult to get listings of
Brownfield sites, because such a list, unfortunately, does not exist."