If you see erosion control structures, tree guards, and other machinery along Kempton Street, in Buttonwood Park, and in the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford this spring and into the summer, it is because construction has begun again on Green Infrastructure projects to reduce stormwater pollution as part of our Buttonwood-to-Bay project.

Erosion control structures are in place around Waldron Barracks, the Brownell Dirt Parking Lot, and the Park’s bioretention area (a landscaped depression designed to treat stormwater runoff by filtering it through a mixture of soil, sand, and vegetation).

The layout of the bioretention area is complete and testing for what will be needed to accommodate storm water filtering commenced March 28^th.

A new parking lot curb, concrete sidewalks at the Senior Center, and construction of another bioretention area, which started in the fall 2024 before pausing over the winter, have resumed. The curbs and the sidewalks will push storm water to soak into the ground rather than running directly into the Brook, directly improving the water quality in the Buttonwood Brook, as well as downstream (Apponagansett Bay and, ultimately Buzzards Bay).