Cedarwood Road

Cedarwood Road is a dead-end road in West Gloucester located across the street from Clay Pit Landing, a salt marsh on the banks of the Annisquam River dug with agricultural ditches. The houses on the street are typical of the 1960s-era single-family construction that resulted in the loss of historic floodplains. The area currently floods during heavy rains, and an undersized culvert lets in water from the surrounding marshes that flood Cedarwood Road and Fenley Road, located at the end of Cedarwood.¹ The Gloucester Department of Public Works (DPW) is working to daylight Walker Creek into the wetlands to alleviate flooding. The road is a prime example of the way that inadequate drainage capacity can contribute to flooding even in areas that would otherwise remain dry. These areas are difficult for the City to predict or map. In the case of Cedarwood and Fenley Roads, the estimated damages from flooding eighteen of the residential homes total almost $4.9 million.²

The area was previously identified as a public health concern due to a concentration of failing septic systems along the roads.³ These systems have since been upgraded, and the City now promotes a continuing education plan to ensure that private homeowners maintain the public health standards for septic regulations.⁴

During the Great Storm, heavy rains and tidal surge will overtop the Annisquam River’s banks and inundate the marshes, which usually provide a buffer against flooding. The repaired culverts will be overwhelmed and Cedarwood Road will flood. This flooding will undo recent work to repair sewage systems and wastewater will leak out onto lawns, running into the marsh and the Atlantic Ocean. Residents evacuating from Cedarwood and Fenley will be forced to travel upland on Concord Street, facing challenges in evacuating across the flooded Essex Causeway to leave Cape Ann.