Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Tucked into a report about redoing Boston’s Morrissey Boulevard, there are some alarming predictions about sea level rise.
According to the report from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), flooding around Morrissey Boulevard is going to get far more common in the coming decades. With no preventative action, MassDOT predicted that the busy corridor could be underwater at least once per year by 2070. That would turn the campus of UMass Boston into an island.
“What we’re worried about with this report is how is Dorchester and its coastline protected,” said Boston City Councilor John FitzGerald. “Really there’s a lot of economic damage that could be impacted by this flooding, so it’s a really important project.”
FitzGerald is on the commission to redesign Morrissey Boulevard and represents the area in Boston City Council. He said the thousands of apartments planned to be built here cannot move to another location because “it’s just not [that] easy.”
“The idea would be to raise the road and burn down to the water. What we don’t want is a wall that would block the view,” said FitzGerald.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.