Syracuse residents and community leaders discussed the possible construction of a community grid to replace Syracuse’s Interstate 81 viaduct Tuesday night at Temple Concord.

“Community for the Grid” is an organization that advocates for the grid option, which is one of three potential replacements for Syracuse’s crumbling I-81 viaduct. The other options are a redesign of the existing viaduct that would build it taller and wider and a tunnel underneath the city. Discussions on how to replace the viaduct have been ongoing for more than 10 years.

Common Councilor Joe Driscoll, of the 5th district, led the meeting along with Barry Lentz, a former policy chair for the Urban Jobs Task Force.

“(The grid) is part of a larger scheme to improve the community, but … if we don’t get to that first piece of the puzzle, we continue to divide communities,” Driscoll said.

He began the meeting by outlining information from the New York State Department of Transportation on the potential replacements. NYSDOT is creating a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will detail the impact of the various options on the surrounding community.

After the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is released, there will be a community hearing followed by a period of at least 45 days for public comments.

Driscoll said the report needs to be released before a decision is made, but until then he said he plans to raise awareness of the community grid option through methods like postcards and fundraisers.

The construction of the grid would result in only five buildings being demolished, while 24 buildings would need to be destroyed to create a new viaduct, Driscoll said.

Bob Haley, a representative of the American Institute of Architects present at the meeting, said the community grid will generate $5 million in tax revenue and up to seven acres returned to Syracuse’s tax rolls. No taxable land would be returned to Syracuse through the viaduct option, according to NYSDOT.

“(The grid will) give tax money back to the schools, and it’ll give tax money back to the county. I don’t think county residents know that,” Haley said.

A tunnel would cost $10 million a year in maintenance, Haley said.

Driscoll said the grid option could benefit Syracuse University students who would no longer have to cross under the overpass to reach areas such as downtown Syracuse.

“There’s that big, intimidating barrier at the foot of the hospitals,” Driscoll said.

He also said that the grid will ease congestion on Syracuse game days.

Some residents raised concerns about potential transportation issues they heard from opponents of the grid. One asked Lentz what impact the grid would have on ambulances. Lentz said St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center endorsed the community grid and signed a letter to New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

“The idea that ambulances need 81 is just not true,” Lentz said.

Published on January 22, 2019 at 11:41 pm