SYRACUSE -- A proposal to tear down a stretch of the elevated interstate highway that divides downtown Syracuse has the backing of the Cuomo administration's top transportation official.
State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald told The Post-Standard of Syracuse on Wednesday that removing that portion of Interstate 81 would be "great" for the city. Her agency will decide whether or not I-81's nearly 1½-mile-long viaduct is removed as part of a plan to revitalize downtown Syracuse.
Last month, more than a dozen elected officials and other community leaders in the Syracuse area wrote to McDonald to point out how other cities have benefited when they chose to take down or reroute their elevated highways.
The letter did not endorse any of the ideas that have surfaced over the past year. Those proposals include turning Rt. 81 into a tunnel through the city, rebuilding the overpasses, re-routing the highway, turning it into a ground level boulevard or doing nothing.
The letter informed McDonald of the profound impact any decision would have on the future of Syracuse's economy, neighborhoods, health, environment and safety.
One of the community leaders who signed the letter is Syracuse Common Council President Van Robinson. He told CNY Central's Jim Kenyon that he was glad to hear DOT Commissioner McDonald was in favor of bringing down the elevated portion of the highway. Robinson said planners made a "mistake" back in the '60's when Route 81 was built.
"The popular thought back in the '60's was build a highway and you would enhance your downtown, you would increase your population. But just the opposite took place. The highways were escape routes for people who did not want to live in the cities," Robinson says. "Once that highway is gone, there should be development which is going to be very beneficial to the city."
I-81 is a major north-south highway in New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line to the Canadian border.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
