The sixth contract awarded under the largest road construction project in New York’s history — the I-81 Viaduct Project — has become the state’s highest ever, at $2.1 billion.
The new contract was awarded by the New York State Department of Transportation to CNY Alliance to remove the viaduct through Syracuse and build a new one with three 12-foot lanes, full-width shoulders, improved curves and longer merge areas.
A 1.4-mile stretch of elevated highway will be removed and replaced with a "community grid" to improve access to downtown Syracuse. NYSDOT says the viaduct is outdated and has “separated the City of Syracuse for decades.”
The contract will be completed in stages to maintain the flow of traffic on I-81 through a combination of detours onto city streets and sharing different sides of the interstate with both directions of traffic at different times.
Main goals of this sixth contract include:
- reconstruction and realignment of a key stretch of Interstate 690
- rehabilitation of 25 local streets with new sewer and water lines
- building easy-to-navigate access points to the city center
- Removing the I-81/I-690 ramps for future ramps, bridges and retaining walls
- Completing the full North Crouse/Irving avenues interchange
- Reconstructing the West Street/I-690 interchange into a pedestrian-friendly street level corridor and lowering West Street to meet West Genessee Street
- Installing new decorative lighting, sidewalks, shared use paths and trees
The street-level corridor will help create an at-grade intersection to reconnect Syracuse’s Near Westside neighborhood with the city’s downtown area to link residents and visitors to the Onondaga Creekwalk.
Phase 1 of the I-81 Viaduct project, which began in spring 2023, focused primarily on improvements to support the later redesignation of Interstate 481 as I-81 and allow traffic to flow during Phase 2 construction. Examples include reconstructing the northern and southern interchanges of I-481 and I-81 and the first steps toward creating the future Business Loop 81.
