Vision Chelsea Creek

These old maps show the area between Noddles Island and Hog Island (also called Breeds Island) which is now the Orient Heights neighborhood or as locals call it “up at the heights”. There was once was a Creek that flowed from the Chelsea River to the Broad Sound (Atlantic Ocean) that was called Sales Creek. Then it was filled in through the whole process of filling in land in Boston from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. In one of the maps called “Plan showing location of the property of the East Boston Company in East Boston and vicinity 1911”, you can see the area of what is now Harbor View neighborhood, Route 1A and the private land owned by Cargo Ventures, was once called the Orient Heights Playground. Interesting!

Now take a look at some of the newer maps. That land is all low-lying land subject to significant flooding as according to projections. Take a look at the map of flooding projections for 2070. Not surprising since that was once water.

**Questions to ask as you learn of various proposals out there on the Route 1A Corridor**

What are the plans in place to protect this area from flooding and sea level rise?

Would building more transportation infrastructure that doesn’t have sufficient climate mitigation elements be the best idea?