Chelsea city manager and Masary founder outline plan to light the Tobin Bridge, stress net‑zero goal

Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltese interviewed artist Ryan Edwards on a community broadcast about a proposal to illuminate the Tobin Bridge with a site‑specific light installation that would be driven by ecological data and designed to highlight tidal rhythms and climate change.

"The base idea of the project is to help us connect more deeply to the ecological rhythms all around us," Ryan Edwards said, describing a plan in which tidal and harbor sensors would help determine the bridge's lighting, rather than a preset animation. Edwards, who founded the small studio Masary around 2014, said the concept has been in development for roughly four years and has attracted institutional supporters including the Museum of Science, Emerson College and Boston Harbor Now.

Edwards estimated the project at about $10 million and said the team is pursuing fundraising while also working with state transportation officials. "We think it's a $10 million project," he said, and added that the effort requires regulatory approvals and additional financing before it can proceed.

The studio described two technical approaches: internal wash or flood lighting to illuminate structural volume above the driving deck, and externally facing linear fixtures that would form addressable lines of light along the bridge’s truss. Edwards said the installation would be primarily abstract and ecological in focus — not used for commercial or sports‑team colors — and that the animation could, for example, make high and low tides readable from the shore.

"All of the animation that's happening on the bridge will be driven by these ecological patterns," Edwards said. "The instrument is played by the ecology." He also suggested the project could show how today's tides compare with the same day in 1950 as a way to make long‑term sea‑level change more perceptible.

Environmental impacts were a central subject of the interview. Edwards acknowledged public concerns about electricity use and lifecycle carbon and said the team aims for the installation to be "fully net zero." He described a two‑part approach: sourcing green electricity for operations and conducting a full carbon audit of fixtures, conduit and cabling, with a preference for locally focused carbon‑offset or mitigation projects.

Edwards also said Masary is consulting conservation experts about light pollution, including groups that track bird migration and Dark‑Sky advocates, to limit harm to wildlife and to program the fixtures strategically rather than indiscriminately. "We're talking with the Audubon Society about understanding bird migration," he said, adding that the project team wants the lighting to be powerful but "not sloppy."

Maltese framed the proposal as an opportunity for local identity and economic vibrancy, saying residents and some city councilors have expressed excitement about its potential to change how Chelsea appears after dark. Both speakers emphasized that the project is far from guaranteed: it still needs to clear regulatory review with MassDOT and other state officials and requires more fundraising.

Edwards directed residents to the project's website, ecorhythms.art, for renderings and an email list to receive updates. Maltese closed the broadcast by thanking viewers and encouraging ongoing community engagement as the team pursues approvals and funding.

The project remains a proposal: Masary and city officials continue outreach, technical design and environmental consultation, and said key next steps are completing carbon accounting, securing green energy commitments for operations, advancing discussions with MassDOT and raising the estimated funds.