I-81

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs bill will help local workers get good-paying jobs and reconnect communities divided by infrastructure.

As the public comment period draws to a close, New York Department of Transportation officials announced changes are being considered to the I-81 plan after initial community response.

Dozens showed up to learn about the plan and project that will have a major impact on the city of Syracuse.

About 70 people turned out for Tuesday’s first virtual public hearing on the revised draft of the replacement for I-81 viaduct.

Those who live or used to live near the I-81 viaduct are calling on the state DOT not to repeat the same mistakes from 60 years ago as plans move forward with the proposed community grid replacement.

Dozens of Syracuse advocates and community residents marched from Martin Luther King, Jr. school to the state office building over the weekend demanding justice for those living near the I-81 viaduct.

The state Department of Transportation is out with its latest plan to replace the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse, and it reaffirms their commitment to a community grid. The draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, includes some changes from the preliminary draft introduced a little over two years ago.

Elected officials and community members in Syracuse are pushing back hard against a so-called Skybridge proposal by some suburban leaders who claim the viaduct replacement would complement the community grid.

It was a week ago Tuesday when US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg stopped in Syracuse to confirm that I-81 viaduct replacement project is a federal priority, and that it’s committed to ensuring Syracuse residents are hired to work on it. The visit reassured community advocates like Deka Dancil, president of the Urban Jobs Task Force.

Elected officials in Syracuse’s northern suburbs are pushing back against the assertion that there’s county-wide consensus around the community grid replacement for the I-81 viaduct.