By Carol Britton Meyer

A large crowd gathered Monday in the high school exhibition room for an update on the Nantasket Avenue seawall project and a discussion of the temporary traffic plan, asking dozens of questions, sharing a number of concerns, and making suggestions. A traffic study is still in the works.

The purpose of the project is to reduce the risk of flood damage and coastal erosion, increase resilience against projected future sea level rise, and maintain critical links to the infrastructure, homes, and businesses on Pemberton Point.

**OFF THE WALL.** Kevin Mooney, a senior engineer on the Nantasket Avenue seawall project, addresses Allerton Hill residents at Hull High School on Monday night. With the Nantasket Avenue straightaway along the seawall closed as of August 12, residents expressed concerns about safely exiting and entering Allerton Hill, as well as the lack of a pedestrian and bicycle path leading toward Hull Village. [Photo courtesy of Frank Kerr]

Concerns related in part to the planned one-way road (the direction will be determined later in the 18-month construction process); providing accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists during the construction; additional expected traffic on Allerton Hill due to detours; and whether these changes should have gone before the select board acting as the town’s traffic commissioners.

Project manager Kevin Mooney of Waterways Project Management said he will look into the question, posed by resident Pat Finn, related to pedestrian and bicycle accommodations along Fitzpatrick Way, working with town officials, the Hull police and fire departments, and the DPW “while considering pedestrian and vehicular safety.”

Town Manager Jennifer Constable acknowledged that Fitzpatrick Way is not safe for pedestrians and bicyclists now – to which Finn concurred, noting that project engineers will have the added challenge of dealing with this existing condition once a portion of Nantasket Avenue is closed.

Concerns voiced about temporary intersection change

A number of residents expressed concern about a proposed temporary change to the Beacon Road/Fitzpatrick Way/Nantasket Avenue intersection on the opposite side of Allerton Hill, in large part due to safety.

This change relates to opening up the intersection for additional turning room and the painting of new traffic lines to create a safe turning lane for vehicles – including school buses – heading left from Fitzpatrick onto Nantasket and Beacon.

This requires the movement of the stop sign and stop line to be parallel with the travel lane of Fitzpatrick to gain a clearer line of sight in all directions, according to Mooney. The end result will be a painted island. Construction on this part of the project is expected to begin immediately.

Project engineers will perform additional traffic studies after Nantasket Avenue is closed to ensure the Allerton Hill traffic pattern and other detours are working properly, with adjustments made as needed.

While project engineers deem this to be a good temporary solution, one resident countered: “The experts on the Hill trump traffic experts.”

Paul Falletti, a 30-year resident, asked a number of questions and noted that the presence of invasive knotweed in the construction area would need to be controlled. “It’s everywhere,” he said.

Climate Adaptation and Conservation Department Director Chris Krahforst said he will look into this issue and find ways to mitigate the problem as necessary.

‘The low wall is in complete failure’

This project is of high importance, town officials and project engineers emphasized, because the existing deteriorating seawall – which was named the top priority in a recent study of Hull seawalls and other vulnerable structures in need of repair – overtops during some storm events and is in bad shape due to its age and erosion.

“The low wall is in complete failure,” Mooney said.

If the seawall were to fail, everything north of the structure would be cut off from the rest of the town and vice versa – including two schools, the wastewater treatment plant, the U.S. Coast Guard station, the commuter ferry, and hundreds of homes.

The work involves replacing a large portion, about 1,675 feet, of the seawall along a section of Nantasket Avenue across from Mariners Park (in front of the Hull Yacht Club and the Nantasket Beach Salt Water Club) that includes the section behind 948 Nantasket Ave., Point Allerton Avenue, and Stony Beach, as well as placing the utilities underground as a first step in the project, intersection improvements, raising a portion of the road, and creating an overlook with a view of the ocean, which some residents support and others don't due to concerns about pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The plan calls for the new seawall to be constructed landward of the existing seawall, with armor stone between the walls.

The town’s share of the $15.6 million project is $6 million, approved at town meeting earlier this year.

Full project details are posted at https://www.town.hull.ma.us/home/pages/nantasket-avenue-seawall-project-0.

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