© Newburyport Daily News
By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — Four years after the Mother's Day storm caused major flooding throughout the region, state and city officials gathered on Plum Island Turnpike yesterday to witness drainage repairs that will prevent the road from flooding during future rainstorms.
In 2008, the city was awarded $140,000 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make those drainage improvements. The funding was part of $2.5 million given to Bay State municipalities as a result of the 2006 Mother's Day floods. To get the funding, the city had to provide a 25 percent match, or about $40,000, while FEMA gave $100,000. The match came from the sewer department enterprise fund.
Part of those funds was targeted to fix a culvert on Plum Island Turnpike, known for flooding during significant rainstorms.
Yesterday, Mayor Donna Holaday and Department of Public Services director Tony Furnari gathered at Plum Island Turnpike just before the Mass. Audubon Center, where contractors were busy working to fix a culvert near a low spot in the road. The area is familiar to motorists, as it is often floods during major storms because of its low elevation, the nearby water and the 12-inch pipe under the roadway that corroded away over time.
"It just rotted out and collapsed," Furnari said, adding that the road has been flooding for several years. The city is replacing that pipe with large concrete box culverts. Following initial work in June, road crews began the culvert work over the last few days. It should finish shortly.
State Rep. Michael Costello, D-Newburyport, who worked to coordinate the funding with FEMA, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, was on hand yesterday to watch the process. "After the Mother's Day storm, MEMA toured the area, and they looked at this culvert in particular," Costello said, adding that the agency understands the needs in a low-lying coastal community.
"This is state money coming in doing local work, with a small local match," he said. With flood waters covering the road blocking access to the island, the issue also becomes a public safety matter, Costello said.
And, the project provides an opportunity for employment, Costello added.
"The beautiful part is you've got people working," he said.
Holaday said the city is also working to secure FEMA funds to fix flooding problems on Malcolm Hoyt Drive and Parker Street, an area in the city's industrial park that is also often flooded during major storm.