Syracuse cut in half, maybe not much longer
There's an interesting story on the Streetsblog about the decision Syracuse is facing with the elevated portion of I-81 that cuts right through the middle of the city. The highway is falling apart -- and some city leaders are pushing to just rip it out completely and re-join the two sides of the city. The situation reminds us a bit of I-787. (The Stakeholders have working up possible re-designs of 787.) [via @albanyjen]
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Comments
Aren't one supposed to go to cities not through cities? If we have this mindset then these elevated highways will be a thing of the past.
... said tj on Jun 22, 2011 at 6:48 PM | link
Wow, the images of Albany on the first pic of that 787 link are striking. A whole neighborhood at the left side of the two pictures, that was completely destroyed.
... said BBnet3000 on Jun 22, 2011 at 8:36 PM | link
I don't know...I've always thought the drive on the elevated highway through Syracuse was kinda cool. It's almost like you're going through a tunnel, surrounded by buildings. Of course, this has nothing to do with whether it's good for the city itself.
... said J on Jun 22, 2011 at 10:32 PM | link
What those renditions don't show is the miles and miles of traffic backed up along those beautiful tree-lined "boulevards". Some compromise between extremes is necessary. I don't know Syracuse well enough, but if it's anything like the 787 situation, well... do you really want a trip from Albany to Menands to take 30 minutes in stop and go traffic? How do our friends in Troy feel about the idea of cutting them off from Interstate Highway access?
... said Erwer on Jun 22, 2011 at 10:33 PM | link
I saw that story, and having once lived in Syracuse (for 12 years), I can say that Interstate 81 is only half the story. Interstate 690 is the other half, and where they intersect, the city is effectively cut into quarters, not halves. Before the highways, Syracuse was famous as the city where the trains ran through the streets. the NY Central rail line ran directly in front of City Hall. The tracks were only elevated for a few years before they allowed the city to be cut up again for highway travel. As in Albany, it came with scads of "urban renewal" that caused large-scale displacement of major neighborhoods, though honestly Albany's self-destruction, between the Empire State Plaza and the South Mall Expressway/I-787 interchange, was much greater. (I-787 without a connection to the Plaza would have had a much, much smaller impact, as most of the land along the river was industrial and railroad right-of-way.) Ultimately, any decision to destroy neighborhoods for a roadway is a decision that people who drive in the city are more important than the people who live in it.
My guess, however, is that I-81 is not going anywhere.
... said Carl on Jun 23, 2011 at 12:04 AM | link