Apple Street Roadbed Elevation & Culvert Replacement Project

APPLE STREET ROADBED ELEVATION & CULVERT REPLACEMENT PROJECT

Welcome to our web page that connects you with all aspects of our final design and permitting project that seeks to elevate about 800 feet of the Apple Street roadbed on the Southern Avenue end and to replace an old, undersized drainage culvert with a much larger stream crossing that will restore the ecology in the area.  Presently, when the Essex Causeway on Route 133 floods due to storm surges or astronomically high tides, Apple Street is the only other, in-Town route connecting both halves of the community.  Occasionally (with expectations that frequency will increase in the future), when the causeway floods, so does one, low portion of Apple Street.  Also, the natural transition from salt marsh to freshwater marsh to upland stream is interrupted by the substandard stream crossing beneath the roadway.  As such, the aim of this project is to provide a dry travel path when the causeway floods - well in to the future, and to restore the aquatic ecosystem associated with the stream crossing beneath the roadway.

See our Project Calendar to find out about various events and forums that will be occurring with respect to the project.  You will also see a photo taken in 2022 in the Apple Street project area that illustrates coastal flooding in a minor storm event.  In March of 2018, both the Essex Causeway and Apple Street were rendered impassible during a major coastal storm event.

The Town held a virtual public forum on November 2, 2022 and that event was recorded by 1623 Studios.  You can access that recording here.  Comments were received from the public during two presentations and a site walk held that day and thereafter, including a set of formal comments from the Essex Planning Board.  Please see the most recent draft project plans and our engineering consultant's response to comments for more details.  TownGreen hosted a webinar on September 26, 2023 featuring the projected impacts of climate change and sea level rise on Essex roadway infrastructure and the proposed Apple Street project was discussed at length.  See the recording of that webinar here.

Please check back from time to time as we will be continuously adding new information and updating this web page.  Should you have questions or comments concerning the project, please feel free to e-mail Essex Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki at bzubricki@essexma.org or call him at (978) 768-6531.  You may also wish to submit your ideas and questions via our project webform.

Below, you will find additional documents and resources concerning the proposed project.  This section will be added to as the project unfolds.