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

The New York Dept. of Transportation is taking the primary steps towards demolishing Syracuse, N.Y.’s I-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 “Neighborhood Grid” of pedestrian-friendly streets. A brand new railroad bridge, stormwater and sewage infrastructure, bicycle owner facilities and noise limitations will probably be constructed as nicely.

The undertaking additionally contains elimination of the viaduct’s first seven spans. NYSDOT expects the elevated construction anticipated to completely shut by the tip of 2026, with new building accomplished the next 12 months.

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 be dealing with two associated initiatives on Syracuse’s north aspect: the $296.4-million reconstruction of an present 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 known as for elimination of the obtrusive viaduct. Accomplished within the Sixties, the construction displaced greater than 1,300 households and contributed to the encompassing group’s decades-long financial and social marginalization, in line with a New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) historical past.

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

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

In line with an announcement supplied to ENR, NYSDOT says it has usually and proactively sought group enter as parts of Connecting Syracuse have taken form over the previous a number of years.

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

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 grime, mud, and different contaminants from the soles of sneakers; and quite a lot of public data supplies equivalent 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 techniques positioned across the undertaking space.

In mid-Might, NYSDOT and NYCLU carried out a group assembly to reply residents’ lingering questions immediately, and supply extra suggestions for conserving their houses dust-free as demolition work ramps up. Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Director of NYCLU’s Racial Justice Heart, says the occasion, “supplied a crucial house to debate the mitigation measures the NYCLU, the NYSDOT and the group helped develop to make sure these most impacted by building 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 building of the Neighborhood Grid, which is concentrating on completion in 2028.

“We are going to preserve working with the group and NYSDOT to make sure that the injustices of the unique building aren’t repeated,” Owens-Chaplin says, “and to offer stability, dignity and financial alternative for impacted residents.”  

NYSDOT has not stated how the rest of the Syracuse viaduct undertaking is likely to be affected by proposed cuts to federal funding which have helped advance this system. The current version of the federal budget bill into consideration 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.