Saugus board reviews revised roadbed plans

SAUGUS – The Department of Conservation and Recreation went before the Saugus Conservation Commission for the fifth time Wednesday night for approval to remove 258,000 cubic yards of sand from the old I-95 roadbed to restore Winthrop Beach.Rachel Burckardt, a consultant working for the DCR, said after five meetings and a site walkthrough, the DCR has made additional corrections and changes to the plan to take remaining questions into account.?The last time there were a number of concerns come up and had a number of comments from your consultant, Engineering Alliance,” said Burckardt. “At this point we believe we?ve addressed all of the comments from Engineering Alliance.”Burckardt said the new plan keeps the full height of the roadbed on the Route 107 side with a footpath, a parking lot and new trees planted on the Eastern Avenue side that the DCR will maintain for five years.Burckardt also said a marsh restoration will be done in a “successive manner” with the sand removal and will increase flood storage. The amount of sand to be removed also dropped from 350,000 cubic yards.Dawn Gaffney lives off of the marsh and the roadbed, and had concerns about the portion of the roadbed near her home being taken down too far, leaving Route 107 and Wheelabrator visible.?You want to knock it down and I?ll be looking at 107 like I?m living on Route 1,” she said.Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian submitted a position paper and a petition with 477 signatures to the commission opposing the project and said he didn?t believe the DCR would actually follow through with a marsh restoration.?I suggest you vote this down,” he said. “I can tell you?re not comfortable with it. So much of what they?re promising you is based on when the restoration contract shows up. When is that? It?s not going to be required.”Manoogian also said U.S. Rep. John Tierney met with neighbors on Tuesday and will look into reversing a decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent removing sand from the ocean for the project because of environmental issues.Mary Remer of the DCR said a wildlife assessment showed the area is “not within estimated habitat for species” and does not provide “significant habitat features” under the Wetland Protection Act.?You will see animals out there, it certainly provides habitat for certain wildlife species ? but not it?s considered to be significant enough ?,” she said.Remer also said restoring the marsh will provide an “enormous” habitat improvement over the existing “manmade condition.”The commission will conduct another site walkthrough with the DCR before meeting on April 10.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].