SYRACUSE -- The public heard details of the Connective Corridor Project on Wednesday morning.
Linda Hartsock, director of Syracuse University's Community Engagement and Economic Development team, says now that the first phase of the project is completed, construction on the second and third phase is set to begin this summer.
The next phases will extend the corridor along East Fayette Street through downtown Syracuse and Armory Square. Hartsock says St. Paul's Cathedral is one of forty historic city buildings that will be lit up along the corridor.
"When you think about the great cities, most of them are defined by great lighting. We see that as a major component of the next phase we are doing," she says.
Syracuse University is teaming up Onondaga County to build the corridor. Owen Kerney, Deputy Director of Syracuse's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, says most of $14.5 million expansion of the corridor is being paid for with a $10.5 million federal grant. Syracuse University and, to a lesser degree, Onondaga County are funding the rest.
In addition to improved lighting, plans call for a dedicated bike lane to extend to South Salina Street and more than a half million dollars worth of exterior improvements to buildings along the corridor.
Kerney says many of the waist level street lights installed along University Avenue during the first phase of construction were vandalized and as a result, larger red lights will be installed along the rest of the corridor.
"Downtown they are going to be 10 to 12 feet, they are going to be a greater diameter and they are going to be more durable and again provide that pedestrian side lighting that we want," says Kerney.
Construction on the final two phases of the Connective Corridor is set to begin this August and be completed by the summer of 2015.
