Green Infrastructure for Future Greenhouses
Improving infrastructure and accessibility around former industrial mill sites in New Bedford, Massachusetts
Project Summary
Community: New Bedford, Massachusetts
Technical Assistance: Streetscape arid Green
Infrastructure
Former Use: Industrial Mills
Future Use: Greenhouses and Green Space
The Payne-EIco site in New Bedford is the result of two
adjacent mill sites- the former Payne Cutlery (which
manufactured cutting shears and manicure products) and
the former Elco Dress textile mill. The city now hopes to
redevelop the site as parkland or urban agriculture, which
is consistent with community vision developed through the
2015 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brown fields
Area-Wide Planning grant process. The grant helped the
city address the complex challenges of its numerous
brown field sites (including Payne-EIco) and develop a
strategy to improve the economic, environmental, and
social prosperity of this densely populated, mixed-use
community. Community goals include a multicultural,
intergenerational, safe, and clean neighborhood with
amenities for all. Their vision includes green space,
greenhouses, renewable energy, improved stormwater
management, and better waikability.
The Community's Challenge
The Brownfields Area-Wide Plan emphasized that many in
the underserved neighborhood adjacent to Payne-EIco
travel by foot, bus, or bicycle. Before moving on to final
plans, the city needed to incorporate a more complete
street design for pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicle safety, as
well as a design to improve stormwater management for
the Payne-EIco site and the abutting roadways.
EPA's Land Revitalization Technical Assistance
In 2019, EPA's Land Revitalization Program provided a
contractor technical assistance team to evaluate
infrastructure needs and changes along the streets
surrounding the Payne-EIco site. The team developed a
Transportation and Green Infrastructure Improvement
Plan with designs for roadway and streetscape
improvements of curbs, on-street parking, sidewalks,
lighting, street trees, and green infrastructure. The green
infrastructure elements included urban bioretention, flow-
through planters and structural storage facilities under
sidewalks. The team also developed planning-level
construction cost estimates for each street segment to
inform recommendations for the final Payne-EIco plan.
With site designs, cross-sections, and cost-tables in hand,
the city now has the tools to expand the accessibility of
Payne-EIco to all modes of travel, while building
stormwater resiliency in the community.
MPNOVEMENtS
Hgdf
is r - - . --N

—¦ --CP"
-a
L- acw THROUGH PLANTER
NOMOOIFCATIONTO
Cross-section shows the streetscape improvement plan for the
Coffin Avenue side of the Payne-EIco site.
For more information, contact Jessica Dominguez, EPA
Region 1 Brownfields Program, at
dominauez.iessica@epa.gov.
s>EPA
United States	Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Environmental Protection
Agency	EPA Pub # 560-F-19-005-B

-------