A rally in support of a replacement option for a stretch of Interstate 81 served as a platform for city mayoral candidates and local politicians to rail against New York state officials Tuesday.

The rally, held in Hanover Square, was organized by ReThink81, a local group that supports a $1.3 billion replacement option for the “viaduct,” a raised section of I-81 that bisects Syracuse.

At one point during the event, Common Council President Van Robinson hefted a sledgehammer into the air, saying he wanted to tear down the highway: “I hated it from the first time I came to this city and I hate it even more now.”

“It has completely destroyed our commercial fabric,” Robinson said. “We have people in Albany that say to us, ‘My constituents don’t want to see the viaduct taken down.’ I wonder, who are their constituents?”

A handful of other common councilors mingled with the crowd, including Khalid Bey, Joe Nicoletti and Steven Thompson. Three of the four remaining mayoral candidates attended the event: Ben Walsh, an independent; Juanita Perez Williams, a Democrat; and Howie Hawkins, who is running on the Green Party ticket.

All three candidates, speaking before a crowd of more than 100 area residents, said they support the community grid concept. Laura Lavine, a Republican candidate who has remained skeptical of the grid, did not attend the event.

The viaduct, built during the 1950s and 1960s, is considered structurally deficient in some spots by the New York State Department of Transportation. Sections of the highway are caked with rust. I-81 cuts through a public housing complex, called Pioneer Homes, near Syracuse University’s Brewster/Boland/Brockway Complex.

NYSDOT officials had narrowed options for replacing I-81 down to two from 16, but in January announced a consulting firm would be reviewing the feasibility of a contentious tunnel option that had previously been dismissed by the state.

A report on the tunnel option, which would redirect I-81 traffic under the city and cost an estimated $3.1 billion, was expected to be released sometime in late August or early September. That never happened.

In an email, a NYSDOT spokesman on Sept. 29 said the tunnel report was “expected any day now.”

“The draft (Environmental Impact Study) will follow some time after that,” said Gene Cilento, assistant to the NYSDOT’s Region 3 director.

Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, on Tuesday said residents have to write to legislators in support of the community grid. The grid concept would destroy the viaduct, redirect highway traffic east around Syracuse on Interstate 481 and cost an estimated $1.3 billion.

“The people of Syracuse are pretty clear (about) what they want. We want that viaduct down,” Hawkins said, yelling into a microphone. “But our state legislators, they’re not speaking up for us.”

State Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-N.Y.), who represents portions of Syracuse, has condemned the community grid option. DeFrancisco, along with other state representatives, has urged the NYSDOT to consider a hybrid of both the grid and tunnel options. DeFrancisco serves as the Senate’s deputy majority leader.

Another local grass-roots group, Save81, contracted a civil engineering firm to review the state’s community grid plan. In a report released this August, the firm said the grid would overburden city streets and increase congestion throughout Syracuse. DeFrancisco, at the time, held a press conference to announce results of the report.

Perez Williams on Tuesday was the only candidate who said they would try to work with state officials, particularly New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to promote the community grid.

Walsh, who held a campaign rally near I-81 in late September, meanwhile, again called on the NYSDOT to release the tunnel report and project Environmental Impact Study. He also said the community grid option is the “only option” for replacing the highway.

“We are continuing to debate whether or not we want to double down on 20th century infrastructure while we’re in a 21st century economy,” Walsh said. “It makes no sense to me.”

Published on October 10, 2017 at 9:30 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek