Syracuse, N.Y. -- New York’s $212 billion budget includes $800 million for the state’s plan to rebuild Interstate 81 and the heart of Central New York’s interstate system, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The allocation marks the largest spending to date -- and the first down payment on construction -- on the estimated $2 billion project. Cuomo says the state will break ground next year.
“For years we have been working on a solution to transform the obsolete and poorly designed I-81 viaduct in Syracuse into a modern transportation corridor, and this year’s budget is making it a reality,” Cuomo said in a news release this morning. “We’ve listened to the community, addressed concerns related to the project and put our best plan forward - now it is time for action. We look forward to that historic day when the first shovel breaks ground on this important project.”
Before construction begins, much planning remains.
Still, the money and the summertime release of the latest construction plans mark a pivotal moment in the massive project that would change how people here get to work, downtown, hospitals and universities for generations.
The state’s Department of Transportation will release its latest version of the plan this summer, according to Cuomo’s office. That will start a clock -- likely 45 days -- to allow the public to comment on the plan. The comment period also includes a public hearing.
That newest Draft Environmental Impact Statement -- required by federal law for massive projects like this one -- coming this summer is the next highly anticipated step in a construction project that’s been debated here for years.
In 2019, the state released a preliminary version of the plan. In it, the state proposed a $2 billion proposal that tear down about 1.4 miles of bridges on I-81 that run between the University Hill and downtown. Highway traffic would be rerouted onto nearby Interstate 481 on the city’s eastern side. A portion of Interstate 690 that crosses the city’s center would also be rebuilt.
The plan also includes a new pathway to Syracuse University and surrounding hospitals from I-690. People approaching the city from the north would enter through a new gateway celebrating the Erie Canal. State officials say the plans would alleviate traffic congestion on I-81 near Adams and Harrison streets, where accidents happen 2 to 3 times more often than on similar roadways.
Officials have been talking about solutions for the aging highway for a decade. Most recently, the state and many city leaders have endorsed the teardown idea, which the state calls a “community grid.” Proponents argue it would reunite parts of the city, open up valuable development and green space, and make the area around Pioneer Homes and Upstate University Hospital more vibrant.
In recent months, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh has pitched the plan to officials in U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s office. Walsh and others argue the I-81 project is more than a construction challenge. It’s also a chance to rebuild housing and businesses in the city’s Black community that were, in part, razed during the original construction decades ago.
Buttigieg has said the project is on his radar.
President Joe Biden mentioned the I-81 project in his initial pitch for a $2 trillion infrastructure plan as an example of what he and others call restorative justice.
Walsh, Syracuse University, and the area’s leading business group -- CenterState CEO -- have all endorsed the teardown plan.
But opposition remains, notably among businesses on the city’s northern side and into those suburbs. Destiny USA’s owners have also spoken out against the plan, saying the loss of a federal highway at their doorstep would hurt the megamall.
MORE ON INTERSTATE 81
See what the I-81 teardown plan looks like (maps)
Federal highway officials reviewing I-81 proposal
Five things to know about how I-481 would become I-81
Cuomo wants to break ground on I-81 project in 2022
See where NY would take land for I-81 project
Got a story idea or news tip you’d like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.