Clark secured $280,000 for the Waltham Embassy Parking Lot and $262,500 for the Hurld Park Green Infrastructure Project
Both MA-5 Community Projects will improve green infrastructure and climate resiliency
WALTHAM, MA – Today, Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Katherine Clark (MA-5) toured the Waltham Embassy Parking Lot and the site of the Hurld Park Green Infrastructure Project, two of the ten community projects she secured federal funding for in the Fiscal Year 2022 federal budget. Clark is delivering over $11 million to the Fifth District, improving everything from water infrastructure and climate resiliency to public transit and health care access.
“It was a beautiful day in Waltham and Woburn touring the sites of two Community Projects that will strengthen our community's climate resiliency and infrastructure while improving quality of life for our residents,” said Assistant Speaker Clark.“The funding I secured for these projects responds directly to the needs of our local community, and I was honored to join local officials in celebrating this important step forward. I know we’ve been through a lot in the last two years but every day I’m working in Congress to build a stronger, healthier community and a more sustainable planet – and I’m proud to say that these projects do just that.”
First, Clark was joined by Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) Executive Director Emily Norton for a press conference at the Waltham Embassy Parking Lot. Clark secured $280,000 for the design and construction of a green infrastructure retrofit of the parking lot. This retrofit design, which includes the installation of small, strategically located bioretention areas and infiltration trenches, will improve aesthetics and the quality of stormwater discharging into the Charles River in a cost-effective way. This project will serve as an example of next-generation parking lot design for the City of Waltham and every other community in the Charles River watershed.
“The biggest challenge to our river is stormwater runoff,” said Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) Executive Director Emily Norton. “Paved surface roads are great for driving – they’re not great for rivers because when it rains or snows, and the snow melts, that rainwater carries all of the junk that’s on the road into the river untreated. Several years ago, this was just a partnership with the city, creating a design we didn’t have the funding to build. We needed the partnership of the federal government and our Congresswoman, Katherine Clark, to provide the funding to actually build it. We are incredibly, incredibly grateful to the partnership of Waltham and Congresswoman Clark at a time when we really need it.”
Next, Clark joined Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin, Woburn City Councilors Jeff Dillon and Michael Concannon, State Rep. Rich Haggerty, and local advocates at the site of the Hurld Park Green Infrastructure Project, which will be receiving $262,500. This project will complete engineering designs for a major, 11 acre park that will improve the heat and flood resiliency of the surrounding neighborhoods to combat rising summer temperatures and rainfall intensity due to climate change. Community co-benefits of the project include stormwater pollution remediation through a constructed wetland; stream, floodplain and wetland restoration; ADA-accessible paths; and both active and passive recreation. This project will benefit over 24,000 residents — including three environmental justice neighborhoods located within a mile of the site — and will contribute to regional flood management, specifically for the communities of Winchester, Arlington, Medford, Cambridge, and Somerville.
“I know this neighborhood felt a loss when the Hurld school was closed, but this project will be a big win when it’s done, and we’re just very grateful for everybody who made this happen specifically, Congresswoman Clark,” said Woburn City Councilor at Large Michael Concannon.
“Congresswoman Clark’s tireless effort in supporting this and making sure we got the funds to be able to do this is so important to the community. We often are asked why we run for political office. Today, it's an easy answer. We look here and we see an old school, but I look forward to in a few short years, hopefully, that I can invite you back here and we’ll look at this together and say thank you again, Congresswoman,” said Woburn City Councilor Jeff Dillon.
“We’re so fortunate to be able to celebrate today. It’s a huge step forward to be able to fund a recreational opportunity for this area to address some of the environmental and flooding issues in our neighborhoods. So, for the Congresswoman to step up and really support our community in this effort is a huge day in our community and it’s not possible without the leadership of Mayor Galvin, with our friends in the City Council, and of course, everyone else in City government. As an alumni of the school, and as somebody who just had a baby seven weeks ago, and as somebody who walks this road most afternoons with my dog, we’re looking forward to enjoying the site for years and years to come,” said Woburn Representative Richard Haggerty.
“This park has it all — it’s going to manage local and regional flooding, which is really important as we are going to get more intense and more frequent rain storms. It will provide shade for the summers that are going to get hotter, and it will help in terms of water quality, filtering pollutants before they make it into our rivers. But those are the pieces nobody is going to see. In a few years when this is built, all we’ll see is this amazing park, an amazing open space, a gathering space for the community, for family and friends and neighbors to get together — and restored wetlands. It will really be just a gorgeous face for the residence of Woburn,” said Catherine Pedemonti, MyRWA’s Environmental Resiliency Manager.
Photos of the Waltham event can be found HERE. Footage of the press conference can be found HERE.
Photos of the Woburn event can be found HERE. Footage of the press conference can be found HERE.
More information about Clark’s Community Projects can be found HERE.
# # #