Is there anything preventing a pedestrian connection over the Amelia Earhart Dam on the Mystic like the one over the Charles River Dam between Charlestown and the North End?
A study was done in 2009. It's alluded to in DCR's Mystic River Master Plan (p. A-36 of this
http://mysticriver.org/storage/mysticrivermasterplann-final-11-09.pdf):
The Amelia Earhart Dam, located just east of the confluence of the Mystic River
and the Malden River, was constructed in 1966 between Everett and Somerville.
The dam was built to control tidal flooding and to create a freshwater basin
for public recreation. There is no public access across the dam. In 2009, DCR,
in cooperation wit Exelon New England Holdings, LLC, conducted a study to
evaluate the feasibility of providing a bicycle and pedestrian crossing over the
Mystic River in the vicinity of the Amelia Earhart Dam, Bicycle & Pedestrian
Crossing of the Mystic River, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. 2009. The
alternatives analyzed included:
• a path over the lock gates
• a movable span bridge over the locks
• a new bridge upstream from the dam
• attaching a structure to the existing MBTA bridge
The study found that “the alternatives that utilize the dam or portions of
the dam present significant operational conflicts between the functions of
the structure as a flood control and navigation structure versus bicycle/
pedestrian transportation.”Construction of a new, independent pedestrian
bridge represents the only option for a new crossing. Because of the expense,
construction of a new bridge will not happen for a number of years. In the short-term, it is recommended that DCR work with the adjacent communities and the Massachusetts Highway Department to modify the existing roadways and approaches (Alford Street and Wellington Bridge) to provide a pedestrian and bicycle crossing of the Mystic River