Syracuse residents and businesses in and around the I-81 replacement project are becoming acutely aware of the disruption that accompanies intense construction activity. WAER News is taking a closer look at the impacts of the massive project on an urban environment.
Common councilors recently met with state project leaders to talk about progress and also share concerns. Councilors Marty Nave and Helen Hudson said they’re hearing from residents about truck traffic on the north and south sides.
“The trucks that are coming back and forth on the south side in the area of MLK Boulevard that they're bringing a lot of dust. I've heard the same thing off of Court Street, Sunset Ave," Nave said.
"When you're talking about the trucks, there is a truck route, but these truckers are basically taking city streets not designated for the truck route," Husdon said. "A lot of the residents are complaining about that.”
State DOT regional director Betsy Parmley told councilors they have an engineer-in-charge assigned to each part of the project making sure contractors follow the rules.
“We have made sure he is enforcing our truck routes as much as we feasibly can, and we will reiterate that," she said. "We have a weekly meeting with the contract team, and we tell them the routes they need to take."
"Unfortunately, dust is part of construction," Parmley continued. "We have water trucks that are going out there all the time. I think we have 3 water trucks now on the south side contract alone. So they should be going through watering down the street and vacuuming up the dirt as well.”
Parmley said they have air quality and noise monitors that also help them direct crews to address issues as they arise. She encourages neighbors to let the city and DOT know if trucks are not using designated routes and if streets have excessive dirt.
