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CITY

Syracuse officials inform community while waiting for I-81 analysis

Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

Mayor Ben Walsh has reaffirmed his support for the "community grid" option for the viaduct.

By Gabe Stern

Syracuse and New York state have been in discussion about the viaduct’s replacement for the past 10 years. Currently, the NYSDOT is creating a study that assesses three major options — a community grid, a tunnel or a complete rebuild — for the reconstruction of the viaduct that runs directly through the city.

Several city officials expect the statement to be released in early 2019. In an emailed statement, department spokesman Glenn Blain said, “the NYSDOT anticipates informing the public about the results of its analysis of the Interstate 81 project but the exact timing has not been determined yet.

Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration has sent out grant applications to private sector firms to help secure funding for its “Syracuse Build” program in the meantime, said Director of City Initiatives Greg Loh. The program, which models San Francisco’s City Build initiative, will create job training programs in an attempt to engage more of the city’s workforce in the construction of I-81.

Walsh announced the program last January in his first state of the city address. It has been in a “developing” stage for the past year, Loh said.



At a Q&A panel at the South Side Innovation Center on October 1, Walsh reaffirmed his support for the community grid option to a room of South Side residents. After he left, audience members were asked to raise their hands if they knew what the community grid plan entailed. Less than half of the audience did.

“I feel like a lot of the essential facts and information are not widely known amongst the public,” Common Councilor Joe Driscoll said. “So I think as a councilor, it’s been my job to try to use whatever channels and means are at my availability to try to get the facts out there.”

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The upper map shows the community grid alternative, which would bring the elevated section of the viaduct to street level and would redirect through traffic around Interstate 690 and Interstate 481. The lower graph shows the viaduct rebuild alternative, which would raise and widen the current viaduct. Andy Mendes | Digital Editor

Driscoll, of the 5th District, said he and other councilors have spent time organizing public outreach by holding forums and listening sessions to discuss the potential replacement options.

Common councilors and city politicians can only advocate informally for their preferred choice while the state examines the three major options to replace the viaduct, Michael Greene, a councilor at-large, said.

“I think we’re paralyzed with the indecision,” said Councilor At-Large Timothy Rudd. “I want to start making plans for having a grid and be able to connect our downtown to the university and have it feel like one vibrant urban core.”

Greene and Driscoll also said they support the community grid option.

“The discussion has taken too long,” Greene said. “To me, when you look at urban planning, the best option for us was the community grid, and I think that was clear to me years ago.”

The bridges that meet at E. Water Street and N. McBride Street in Syracuse are what is considered "functionally obsolete." Rust, pieces of concrete and decaying infrastructure can be seen on the bridges that were built in the 1950s. Photo by Wasim Ahmad.

Rust, pieces of concrete and decaying infrastructure can be seen on the I-81 bridges that were built in the 1950s. Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

The NYSDOT approved the community grid and a complete rebuild of the viaduct as two viable options in 2016. The tunnel was found to be a too expensive replacement, but New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the option be reviewed again.

In January 2017, under pressure from New York state Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse), Cuomo ordered all replacement options — including the tunnel proposal and others that were shelved — to be reviewed again by an independent consultant. The review was released in December 2017.

Driscoll said requesting additional reports on the viaduct over the year is just a “stall tactic” to wear down the momentum of opposing viewpoints.

Driscoll said he is open to changing his stance from the community grid option if new information comes out from the report that wasn’t previously known.

Loh said that although he’s anxious for the state to finalize its study, it’s important that the NYSDOT ensures that it makes the right decision.

The Daily Orange’s 2017 I-81 series:

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