A familiar view of a washed out Morrissey Blvd.

A long-discussed – but never entirely funded— restoration project aimed at modernizing flood-prone Morrissey Boulevard will be getting a renewed public airing in the next two months. The Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR) and other state officials are spreading the word to local stakeholder groups to be on stand-by for a new round of planning meetings aimed at re-designing the state-owned parkway, one of the most critical arteries into the city from the south.

A DCR spokeswoman briefed the all-volunteer Neponset River Greenway Council last week on the subject, according to council chairperson Jessica Mink. The planning and design budget is reportedly fully funded, Mink said, adding that they were told that funding is not secured for the construction component. To continue with the planning stage, council members were told that a public meeting hosted by the DCR is expected in February or March, though no date has yet been set.

In remarks before the Cedar Grove Civic Association on Tuesday night, Rep. Dan Hunt told neighbors that the push is on at the State House to allocate state funds for a “big-ticket” renovation project that is expected to cost at least $40 million to implement.

“This is about a $2 million design process that is going to take the work that was done two years ago up to 100 percent design,” Hunt said. “Then your elected officials, including myself, will continue to advocate with the governor to try and fund it.”

Specifics on the project’s timing remain murky, in part becaused budgeting complications surround the allocation of funds for the construction phase. In a look at the project’s prospects in 2013, with the number of flooding incidents ticking upward, the Reporter noted that the cost for landscaping, implementing new drainage systems, and physically raising the roadway for the site was estimated at $25 million.

Mink said the public input into the design is likely to involve aesthetics rather than overall plans, as the DCR explained it.
“The actual design is driven by environmental concerns rather than anything else, because it goes over tidelands,” Mink said. As she understands it, “Getting everything permitted is challenging for them, and getting a sturdy design is their priority aside from funding.”

Elected officials and locals have clamored for a redesign for the stretch of Morrissey Boulevard from Neponset Circle to Columbia road, possibly involving the vehicular and pedestrian nightmare that is Kosciuszko Circle. Frequent flooding after vicious storms has snarled traffic and shut down the major south-north artery in the past.

Three bridges along the parkway — the Beades drawbridge, the Bianculli bridge, and the Kosciuszko Circle bridge near UMass Boston and the Boston Globe’s offices — are owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Some bridge repairs have already been addressed, while others have been slated along with the parkway fixes.

Plans for a general revamp build upon community discussions which began in the 1980s. “Morrissey Boulevard: River or Roadway?” asked a Reporter headline in 1998. The accompanying article contained a pledge from DCR’s predecessor, the now-defunct Metropolitan District Commission, toward a 3-year and $35 million restoration planned for the following year.

Speed forward 18 years, and the community may start to see some progress on the planning front. First on the agenda is finalizing an overall design — which looks to be an unorthodox public process because of hovering uncertainty regarding year-by-year funds — and a corresponding estimate on cost.

“We want to get to 100 percent design, and I will continue to advocate on this,” Hunt said, a past DCR employee and longtime advocate for the Morrissey Boulevard funding. “Flooding and overall aesthetics have been an issue on Morrissey for decades, and the DCR and Governor Baker have shown their commitment to moving the process forward.”

Reporter correspondent Kristina Carroll contributed to this article.