Posted on 11/16/2018 11:56:33 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Monday said she will support the construction of a street-level community grid to replace the elevated portion of Interstate 81 in Syracuse.
Until now, Gillibrand declined to take a position on the issue, saying it was up to Central New Yorkers to choose the best option for replacing the 1.4-mile viaduct that cuts through the heart of Syracuse.
Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said during a visit to Syracuse on Monday that she decided to speak out after discussions with community stakeholders who favor the grid over a tunnel or new elevated highway.
"Given where the stakeholders are -- and given what I have heard from the community in the last several years -- I really think the community grid is the better approach to not only revitalization, but to support all members of our community," Gillibrand said.
The senator made her comments while meeting Monday with reporters and editors at syracuse.com and The Post-Standard.
With her decision, Gillibrand becomes one of the most prominent political voices in New York to come out in favor of the community grid.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, have declined to take a position on the I-81 project, insisting the decision must be driven by the community, not elected officials.
Last year, Katko was among six House members from Upstate New York who urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo not to let the cost for the redevelopment project influence the state's studies on the highway's future.
A tunnel connected to a street-level boulevard would cost about $3.1 billion, according to state studies. A new elevated highway would cost about $1.7 billion, and the community grid would cost about $1.3 billion.
The federal government typically pays about 80 percent of the costs of interstate highway projects.
Elected leaders favoring a tunnel or rebuilt viaduct include incoming Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-DeWitt.
Gillibrand said the tunnel is clearly the least desirable option.
"I disagree with the tunnel folks because I think you're just going to have a bypass of downtown," Gillibrand said. "Unfortunately, when you don't invest in a downtown long-term, your city becomes less attractive. If you create thoroughfares and routes to skip downtown, what you get is boarded up storefronts and you get a hollowing out of cities."
She added, "I've seen this across New York. If you want a vibrant economy, create a vibrant downtown."
Gillibrand had been leaning toward the community grid option, she said, but after meeting with community leaders Monday it cemented for her that it's the right decision.
The senator met privately with a broad sample of stakeholders to discuss her decision. Those at the meeting included representatives of neighborhood groups, community and business leaders, and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh.
"I just don't see where the support from the tunnel comes outside of folks who want the mall (Destiny USA) to be the only destination in Syracuse for economic growth," Gillibrand said.
A state study recommending one of the options for Interstate 81 is due to be completed in January.
Gillibrand is opposed in the Nov. 6 election by Republican Chele Farley. Gillibrand is running for her second six-year term in the Senate after winning a special election in 2010.
The problem is the viaduct is old. It’s gonna start collapsing, and once that starts the whole thing will be shut down. It all has to be taken out no matter what (enormous messy job).
Once that’s removed at great cost, replacing it (tunnel, surface, elevated) will be prohibitively expensive & disruptive.
This will kill Syracuse.
(I’m from Syracuse area.)
....is Syracuse a sanctuary city?
Or just tear it down and don’t replace it.
These projects always work out so well.
She just wants support from construction unions and contractors.
Right, another big dig. If the Rats didn’t run the media they would be at 20%.
Do I understand this right? They are going to reroute I-81 traffic through downtown Syracuse a la Breezewood?
What a thickheaded idea!
Lots of McDonalds, Burger Kings,gas stations, and Shoneys. /eyeroll
Crouse drops $20M Sears renovation plan because of neighborhood opposition
Check out what the growth industry in Syracuse is these days.
Bypasses should only be handled by Vogon Constructor Fleets.
I think you’re right - that’s exactly what it is/will be.
I would add that ‘congestion’ gives the appearance and feel of a highly populated city that has the ‘hustle and bustle’ of Atlanta, NYC, or Hong Kong.
Surely Kristen (F-bomb) Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer know this and that is their real goal. Aside from throwing other people’s money down the drain, that is.
ex Upstater here...
So if I going from say Watertown to Binghampton, I’ll need to take 481 around Syracuse?
Then build me a connector from 481 to 81 that crosses over the Seneca Turnpike.
Frankly, eminent domain is what made the Interstate System what it is.
Just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should. There are less expensive alternatives. And Syracuse has far, far bigger problems.
“Given where the stakeholders are “
When progressives start throwing ‘stakeholder’ around get ready to be screwed.
Lot's of cities have long, expensive tunnels, I remember when Buffalo's subway was put in, 5.2 miles underground.
Now I can't find an estimate of the total costs to build, but seems to me it was in the $billions, for a system which today moves around 8-million passengers per year.
Anyway, I've always thought such expenses were more about civil defense than actual transportation.
I-81 through Syracuse is several miles shorter than the beltway around, so I always use it late at night when the traffic isn't too heavy.
Rochester has a subway tunnel. Completely unused. Huge waste.
As a prospective Eagle Scout, I got a personal driving tour of the construction of I-481 by the head of the project.
Tks for real info on it
Never been to Syracuse
Just another scheme to shoehorn visitors into an area they’d rather not be in... if they had a choice.
Now once the perps ID an out of state plate they will predate with total abandon knowing the vics will not return for what now, settles for justice.
This elevated HW was once described as a modern day wonder of the world.
Today tptb in academia, where this hare brained plot was hatched, are sacrificing technological achievement for more diversity. That’s it in a nut shell.
My own idea would be to add a lane in each direction to I-481 and rename it I-81. I-81 would be renamed I-81 Business (with the green-and-white shields), and then the viaduct would be taken down and replaced with a wide boulevard. (There already is a street along each side of the viaduct.) The remainder of the old I-81 freeway would remain as is, ensuring speedy access to such places as Destiny USA.
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