Fifty-eight Syracuse community members and leaders have signed a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) advocating in favor of a community gird option to replace the city’s crumbling Interstate 81 viaduct.

The New York State Department of Transportation is in the process of putting together a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to determine the best option for the interstate’s replacement — the grid, a tunnel or a complete rebuild of the viaduct. The letter, signed Jan. 23, called for the state to speed up the statement’s release.

Signatories included Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, New York State Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) and state Assemblyman Albert Stirpe (D-Cicero) as well Syracuse Common Councilors, local business owners and activists.

In the letter, they said the grid would advance the city’s economy; fiscal responsibility and regional cooperation; environmental stability; and social, racial and environmental justice.

“We believe a Community Grid provides the best opportunity to harness our collective energy and creativity in undertaking meaningful economic and community development initiatives on a regional scale,” the letter read.

Black families in the city’s 15th ward were displaced by the interstate, the letter said. Planners “intentionally cut through predominately Black, working-class neighborhoods” while developing I-81.

“There is compelling evidence that the urban renewal programs that produced the I-81 viaduct were a significant contributing factor in creating the segregation, concentrated poverty, and inequality of opportunity that exists today,” the letter read.

In 2014, Syracuse was “the ninth most racially segregated metropolitan area in the country,” according to a report released that year by CNY Fair Housing, a nonprofit working against housing discrimination. Black Syracuse residents made $13,652 less annually than white residents from 2011 to 17, according to a report by the city of Syracuse.

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The letter states that a community grid would increase traffic throughout the city and bring new economic opportunities to an area that has previously been ignored by developers in the past. A grid would create new jobs and garner more investors, per the letter.

“The more research I’ve done, the more firmly I’ve come to believe that not only is the grid the best option, but it’s essential for the region,” Councilor Joe Driscoll said on why he signed the letter.

The letter also states that the community grid would have the lowest construction and maintenance costs out of the other options. The grid would cost about $1.3 million, while a rebuilding of the viaduct would cost roughly $1.7 billion, Syracuse.com reported.

A tunnel would require between $3 billion and $4.5 billion in funding, according to a report on the tunnel’s viability by engineering service firm WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The city could use money saved from the grid’s lower cost to help surrounding communities, per the letter. A grid would also be less disruptive for the city during destruction, the letter said.

“I think the grid is by far the best region not only for the region, but for everyone involved,” Councilor At-Large Timothy Rudd said. “It’s the affordable option, it’s the practical option, it’s the transformational option.”

— News Editor Kennedy Rose contributed reporting to this story.

Published on February 6, 2019 at 11:12 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu