The City of Syracuse will be using $8 million of old grant money to improve infrastructure on Beech and Butternut Streets. The money comes from a $10 million state grant secured in 2014 that was never used.
The project is part of the city’s Dig Once initiative, which aims to repair roads and the infrastructure underneath them at the same time. City Engineer Mary Robison says the streets’ current conditions made them logical choices to repair.
“We looked at the condition of the infrastructure below the roadway. The water main is very old in both of these streets and has had previous breaks. Sewer work has been required on Butternut as well. So that’s why we chose these streets. We figured we’d do it all at once.”
Robison says the water main has lead services that will be removed as part of the project and that sewer infrastructure underneath the streets dates back to the 1890s. She says the repair work will be extensive.
“It involves full road reconstruction. So we’ll be replacing the curbs, doing the corners and sidewalks where we’re disturbing them. Or if they’re in really bad condition, both corridors will look nice when it’s done. We’ll do as much as we can with the budget that we have.”
The North Beech Street project is one block long, from roughly from Burnet Ave to the dead end at Hawley Ave and Lincoln Park. Robison expects that project can be done this year. The Butternut project stretches about 5 blocks and includes Butternut circle where it meets Grant Boulevard. Robison says that project may have to wait until 2020.