Grains of Salt (v53): Community Gridlock (Pt. 3)

Part 1 of this Grains of Salt series provided some history on the I-81 project and discussed Justice Gerard Neri's decision to prevent work on the viaduct but allow work on turning I-481 into I-81. 

Part 2  looked at the Micron project implications, even though that project didn't exist until long after planning for the viaduct removal had been done.

Today, some final thoughts.

Economic development considerations.

• What if the Destiny USA developers suddenly make a few billion on crypto and decide to build the whole Erie Canal/golf course/theme park thing? Would Neri or another judge require a new "anticipated population and traffic growth" study? 

• What about the new $85M aquarium project, and its promised half a million visitors? Should we postpone replacing the viaduct until we get a separate traffic study for that? 

• And if a currently unforeseen major project when the Micron projections are underway, would that trigger a complete stop and restart? Or, can the new project be a supplement to the supplemental EIS? And who owns that decision?

Legal questions. 

• What, if anything, will prevent some other aggrieved party from filing the next delaying lawsuit? 

• Are we soon going to see ads for this project based on the "abused by a priest?" or "did you drink the water at Camp Lejeune?" approach? I can see them now: 

Do you like speeding through the city of Syracuse on the I-81 viaduct?  Are you against having to get up earlier to get to work? Hate having to drive through Dewitt? Are you a fan of a giant viaduct soaring high above the city's streets?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be an Aggrieved Party eligible to file a lawsuit to prevent the I-81 viaduct removal project from going forward! Call now!

It won't cost you a thing if we don't win!

• Let's say someone, with the benefit of 15 years of study and tens of thousands of public comments, determines that a tunnel would now be scientifically and economically feasible. Is that a valid reason for a new lawsuit and review?

• After review of the supplemental EIS, let's say Neri or someone else decides we need the Harriet Tubman skybridge viaduct. Will there then be a whole series of discussions on the best design for the skybridge? And if someone doesn't like the answer, can they sue to have the decision reconsidered?

• Who gets to decide who it gets named after? I mean, sure, Harriet Tubman is an icon, but what about Donald 'Nobody in the History of this Country Has Ever Known More about Infrastructure Than Me' Trump? He's an icon, too - can I sue to have it named after him, or maybe after Barack Obama? What's more iconic than being the first - and likely only - Black president in our country's history?

Helpful studies.

• Can we demand northern business corridor merchants commission a study to determine what would happen if they spent money advertising their businesses, instead of relying on free newspaper coverage and endless lawsuits? Where is the comprehensive marketing study on how exit ramp signage, billboards, TV/radio, print, and online ads could be used to help drive customers to these businesses, whether they use the grid and the original I-81 footprint north of the grid, new I-81, or a combo of I-81, I-690, and BR-81? 

• Can we demand those businesses provide detailed sales and occupancy data, including where the customers came from and the route they traveled, and have that independently audited? Let's be sure to look at pre- and post-pandemic data so we know whether they're really going to be impacted by the community grid. This should be required ahead of the NYSDOT doing a supplemental EIS.

• Similarly, can we demand comprehensive impact data from the eastern and southwestern suburbs?  Not just barstool stuff and fear-mongering, but actual data on the specific impacts? This, too, should be required ahead of any NYSDOT supplemental EIS.

If you're asking why anyone should be able to force private companies and suburban communities to provide this kind of data, here's a better question: why can private companies and suburban communities repeatedly force the state to spend our tax dollars jumping through their endless hoops? 

At what point does this end?

From what we've seen, it ends when there's a decision to stop the community grid, unnecessarily tear down dozens of buildings, and erect a massive viaduct that towers over the city. 

It ends when proposed development and investment in Syracuse - technology, housing, business, education, health, and more - are ground to a halt.

It ends only with a decision that defies the wishes of most residents who'd have to live with the monstrosity and those in the greater Syracuse area who cared enough to comment before the community grid decision was made.

It ends when the naysayers win.

One last thing about winning.

In 2018, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh gave his first State of the City address. Here's part of what he said about how we could all win with the I-81 project.

Instead of pitting our communities against each other, what if we stood together, unified, with a plan that creates wins for all of our communities? I believe the decision before us can and should be a source of deeper collaboration and a way to reconnect the economic interests of our City and our suburbs. 

Wouldn't it be great if that had actually happened? 

Grains of Salt (v53): Community Gridlock (Pt. 2)

In Part 1 of this series, I gave some background on the I-81 project, the current lawsuit, and state Supreme Court Justice Gerard Neri's decision to allow work related to I-481 - but not the viaduct removal - to continue.

In this post, I explore some of the implications of his decision, starting with his comments on Micron.

The Micron project is expected to be transformational for Central New York. Over the next two decades, the massive chip manufacturing facility, about 14 miles north of the viaduct, is expected to bring tens of thousands of direct and ancillary jobs. The company is promising a $100B investment, some of which is already flowing into the community.

In his decision, CNY Central reported, Neri said

Unless Respondents [NYS, City of Syracuse] are arguing that statements by the Governor and other elected officials are not factually supported, the Micron Project dwarfs the I-81 Project, much less anything this community has seen. It is just too massive to ignore.

He also referenced "projections from Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon that the community will grow by 200,000 in 20 years, as well as figures from CenterState CEO that 125,000 will come in the next decade."

Below are a few of my thoughts on the Micron aspects of Neri's decision.

Where are those 125,000 - 200,000 people going to live? We have no idea, really. Some may choose an urban lifestyle and live in the city of Syracuse. Some may opt for a quick commute and live in Clay or Cicero. Others may want to live a little further out in the east or west suburbs, while others may go to the far reaches of Onondaga County or neighboring counties. Depending on where they end up, the presence or lack of a viaduct may be meaningless.

There may not be a single 'Micron project' resident impacted by the I-81 project. People who have jobs find a way to get to work on time. I'd suggest this is true of Micron's future employees, just like it's always been true of folks who work downtown, in the suburbs, or in a different county. 

By the way, that happens every day in Central New York; just ask anyone who lives in Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga, Madison, Cortland, or other counties and comes to work in Syracuse or the suburbs. They've figured out how to make it work, and they've been doing it for decades. Is it so hard to think that newcomers to our area wouldn't be able to figure it out, too?

The same may be said for commercial traffic, too. Micron isn't in CNY now; the company's US locations are in Boise, ID and Manassas, VA; the latter plant is about an hour away from I-81. Should we be required to project how trucks would move between the two plants? Or how suppliers would get from where they are to where Micron will be? At what point do the required projections stop?

What if the Micron project isn't fully realized? The company has been cutting staff and slicing executive pay as demand for their chips slows. Some people weren't convinced we'd see the whole project come to be, even before the cost-cutting measures were announced. But Syracuse will still be here, and the I-81 viaduct will still be past the 'death date,' already six years in the rearview mirror. At what point do we stop projecting and start working?

What comes after the traffic projections are made? Is merely submitting the report sufficient? Or, if the study Neri required determines that there will be an additional volume of cars using the community grid when the viaduct is taken down, what then? Who decides what the grid can support? City engineers? The NYSDOT? Justice Neri or some other elected official? And what criteria apply? Is it too many cycles through the traffic lights? The ratio of electric cars to the total population? How cold a cup of DD coffee gets while you wait?

More importantly, if the decision is that the grid can't support the projected volume, who decides which solution replaces or supplements the grid? Again, is that up to City engineers? The NYSDOT? Neri or some other elected official? 

Or - truly our worst nightmare - do we have to start the entire process all over again?

Grains of Salt (v53): Community Gridlock (Pt. 1)

Interstate 81 runs through the middle of downtown Syracuse on an elevated viaduct.  In 2017, the elevated portion of the highway reached the end of its useful life.

Before and after the viaduct's 'death date, ' multiple solutions have been considered, including fixing the highway until it falls down; putting up a wider viaduct that meets current safety standards; digging one or more tunnels; installing a below-grade highway; creating a street-level grid; some combination of those options; or something else we've not yet considered. 

Perhaps a blessing of unicorns should be an option?

Over the years, we've 'considered' this to death. My last post on the project was nearly four years ago when the state issued its final recommendation; here's an excerpt.

After months and months of fits and starts, including a call for a do-over from our Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo to consider a tunnel option, we now have the recommendation from the state, and they believe a community grid is the best option for the Central New York area. 

Since that recommendation was made, there's been no shortage of arguing and complaining, some of which has spilled over into the courts. The current suit was brought by a group called You Can Tear the Viaduct Out from Under My Cold Dead Car, You Sons of Bitches!  The group (its name is shortened to Renew 81 for All in court papers), is led by former Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler, County Legislator Charles Garland, and folks from the east, west, and north suburbs.  

The plaintiffs want a giant skybridge, much wider and higher than the current viaduct. This solution would preserve the northern business corridor - a partially-empty mall that gets much of its tourist traffic from Canada, and several hotels even further north of the viaduct than the mall.  Notably, the mall and the hotels would still be reachable using the same road we call I-81 today, which will be rebranded as Business Route 81.

The skybridge would also preserve life as it's known in the eastern and western suburbs, where I-81 isn't; provide an opportunity to name the bridge after a historical figure (Harriet Tubman is the current choice); and require tearing down some 40-odd buildings in Syracuse forcing businesses, social service organizations, and more to relocate, or close. 

The @SyracuseHistory Instagram account featured the buildings that would be sacrificed in Tubman's name. 

Last November, state Supreme Court Justice Gerard Neri halted all work on the project; in December, he allowed paperwork - but not physical work - to proceed pending a January hearing. This week, we got his ruling. According to reporting from Syracuse.com, 

Neri agreed with Renew 81 that the environmental review of the project was incomplete. Among other details, the (justice) said DOT must account for traffic that will come from Micron Technology’s planned chip fab in Clay, which is expected to bring a surge of population growth to the area. He also ordered the state to study the potential for new air pollution along the suburban route of Interstate 481 if the viaduct is removed and traffic diverts to 481.

His decision allows work on I-481 (adding lanes, updating on- and off-ramps, etc.), which makes up the early phases of the project, to continue. But before the viaduct can come down in a few years, WAER reported, Neri wants a supplemental EIS that includes future traffic projections to reflect Micron’s "anticipated population and traffic growth," air quality monitoring on I-481, and a final plan for stormwater runoff submitted before the viaduct is removed.  

In Part 2, I'll look at the possible impacts of Neri's decision.