Sept. 22—NEW LONDON — An ambitious $16.5 million flood mitigation proposal for South Water Street includes a combination of new flood walls and elevated roads, along with design elements to make the city center’s waterfront more attractive and functional.
The plan, which requires several steps before it can be approved or funded, focuses on a 1,250-foot (395-meter) stretch of South Water Street, just below Bank Street and a few feet from the railroad tracks.
Felix Reyes, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said the road, where the backs of several properties on Bank Street are located, tends to collect floodwaters after heavy rains.
One solution, presented earlier this month to the City Council’s Economic Development Committee by civil and environmental engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, is to build flood barriers 3 to 6 feet high near the Amtrak tracks.
According to the company, the walls are strong enough to withstand coastal flooding events that occur once in 100 years. According to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the chance of such flooding occurring every year is 1 percent.
According to Akta Patel, an engineer with Fuss & O’Neill, construction of the wall would likely coincide with raising portions of South Water Street by up to 30 inches, giving the undulating road a uniform height.
Patel said a recent flood analysis from the University of Connecticut found that sea levels could rise by 20 inches by 2050, which could lead to flooding in public areas along South Water Street.
“That’s already happening in some areas with basement flooding and some homeowners building flood walls,” she said. “And it’s only going to get worse as sea levels rise.”
Ian Law, an associate with Fuss & O’Neill, said he envisions a series of beautification works in the South Water Street area that will run concurrently with the remediation work.
These additions could include converting a nearby alley connecting Bank Street to a pedestrian staircase, creating tree-filled plazas, adding stadium-style seating, and laying cobblestones.
Law said existing delivery routes for businesses would be maintained during construction of the ‘linear park’.
The project would require cooperation from nearby property owners and Amtrak officials. Law said his company met with several property owners in the spring and will do so again.
The project costs were split into three segments: $160,000 for tree planting, $1.6 million for drainage, and $14.7 million for road elevation, flood control and utilities.
Law and Patel said the project’s costs could be covered through a combination of grants from FEMA and the state Department of Economic Development.
Reyes said there will be another meeting with the property owners before the grant application is prepared.
“This isn’t just about South Water Street,” Reyes said. “We have multiple developments going on on Bank and State Street, and other areas of the city. And they’re all interconnected. If there’s flooding on South Water, it affects everyone.”
j.penney@theday.com
