Interstate 690 in Syracuse
/ photo: NYS DOT
SYRACUSE -- The closure of Interstate 690 eastbound near downtown Syracuse between I-81and Teall Avenue has been postponed for a week, and the highway is open after a brief closure Friday morning.
In a statement released to the media Friday afternoon, the New York State Department of Transportation said that work on the I-690 bridge eastbound over Crouse Avenue has been postponed until next weekend. The DOT says work was delayed because of concerns with traffic congestion associated with Friday night’s Syracuse-UConn game at the Carrier Dome.
The DOT says the delay is part of a Cuomo administration “Drivers First” initiative, “which requires NYSDOT to carefully consider the needs of the traveling public when performing roadwork.” The DOT says it decided that extra traffic heading to the Dome for the game “could create significant traffic backups for several hours on both the interstate highways and surface streets in the entire downtown Syracuse area.”
The DOT says the 690 bridge construction has been rescheduled for Friday, October 26 beginning at 9:00 a.m. They say work will be completed by noon on Monday, October 29.
There are no football or basketball games scheduled at the Carrier Dome next weekend. There is a New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers NBA preseason game scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 22.
