NYSDOT Readies for Syracuse Viaduct Removal with Demolition Contract, Community Health Strategy

The New York Dept. of Transportation (NYSDOT) is taking the primary steps towards demolishing Syracuse’s Interstate 81 downtown viaduct, reconnecting and revitalizing deprived neighborhoods divided by the construction for greater than a half-century.

In April, NYSDOT awarded the fifth contract in its deliberate eight-project, $2.3-billion program that shifts I-81 site visitors away from the deteriorating 1.4-mile elevated freeway. The $251-million undertaking, which is being carried out by Salt Metropolis Constructors, will transition the southern finish of the prevailing freeway hall, redesignated as Enterprise Loop 81, right into a “Group Grid” of pedestrian-friendly streets. A brand new railroad bridge, stormwater and sewage infrastructure, bike owner facilities and noise obstacles can be constructed as nicely.

The undertaking additionally consists of removing of the viaduct’s first seven spans. NYSDOT expects the elevated construction anticipated to totally shut by the top of 2026, with new development accomplished the next yr.

Salt Metropolis Constructors, a collaboration of Lancaster Improvement and Tully Building Co., D.A. Collins Building Co. Inc. and Chilly Spring Building Co. Inc., can also be dealing with two associated tasks on Syracuse’s north aspect: the $296.4-million reconstruction of an current I-81/481 interchange, and a $218.9-millon undertaking to consolidate existing interchange for a new Business Loop BL 81.  

Demolition on the Doorstep

Residents of the traditionally Black neighborhoods on Syracuse’s south aspect have lengthy referred to as for removing of the obtrusive viaduct. Accomplished within the Nineteen Sixties, the construction displaced greater than 1,300 households and contributed to the encircling group’s decades-long financial and social marginalization, in accordance with a New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) historical past.

Accomplished within the Nineteen Sixties, the viaduct displaced greater than 1,300 households and contributed to the encircling group’s decades-long financial and social marginalization.
Picture Courtesy NYSDOT

Because the viaduct’s removing lastly made progress towards actuality, nevertheless, NYCLU and different group advocates sought assurances from NYSDOT that the a whole bunch of households at present dwelling close by can be absolutely protected against airborne mud, lead-based paint chips and different contaminants related to the demolition work.

Based on an announcement supplied to ENR, NYSDOT says it has frequently and proactively sought group enter as components of Connecting Syracuse have taken form over the previous a number of years.

“Listening to the voices of the individuals who stay within the neighborhoods below development has been integral and has helped form the undertaking’s method and execution,” the assertion added, noting that following launch of the draft environmental influence assertion, the company obtained “1000’s of feedback from residents dwelling within the shadow of the viaduct,” asking that extra well being protections be established throughout development.

In response, NYSDOT says that it has collaborated with group companions and advocates, in addition to state and native companies to develop a complete well being and security plan that’s “strategically aligned with the unprecedented well being commitments already in place.”

NYSDOT is offering residents with adhesive mats designed to take away filth, mud, and different contaminants from the soles of sneakers; and quite a lot of public data supplies akin to informational magnets and well being tip sheets. A devoted group well being hotline will help neighborhood residents with potential construction-related issues. The company has additionally employed an industrial hygienist to assist monitor air air pollution detection methods situated across the undertaking space.

In mid-Might, NYSDOT and NYCLU performed a group assembly to reply residents’ lingering questions straight, and supply further ideas for maintaining their houses dust-free as demolition work ramps up. Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Director of NYCLU’s Racial Justice Heart, says the occasion, “supplied a essential area to debate the mitigation measures the NYCLU, the NYSDOT and the group helped develop to make sure these most impacted by development can get the provides and assist they want.”

Each NYCLU and NYSDOT have expressed their dedication to prioritizing group well being all through demolition and development of the Group Grid, which is concentrating on completion in 2028.

“We’ll hold working with the group and NYSDOT to make sure that the injustices of the unique development will not be repeated,” Owens-Chaplin says, “and to supply stability, dignity and financial alternative for impacted residents.”  

NYSDOT has not stated how the rest of the Syracuse viaduct undertaking could be affected by proposed cuts to federal funding which have helped advance this system. The current version of the federal budget bill into account by Congress cancels greater than $3 billion in unobligated funding from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Neighborhood Entry and Fairness Program, together with greater than half of a $180-million grant awarded to the NYDOT in 2023.