Controversial tunneling options for replacing a section of Interstate 81 in Syracuse would be feasible but cost between $3 billion and $4.5 billion, a consultant’s study has found.

The study, released Monday by a multinational engineering firm called WSP, was commissioned by New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this year after political pressure forced him to reassess the state’s previous decision to dismiss tunneling options.

The highway is rusted and crumbling in some spots, cutting through a low-income neighborhood just west of Syracuse University’s Main Campus. The state is considering several I-81 replacement options.

Here are three key takeaways from the report:

An expensive project

Consultants analyzed four tunnel options in the report. All of them would redirect interstate traffic underneath the city. Out of the four options, the firm recommended the state continue studying an “Orange” alternative as a “feasible” project option.  

The Orange alternative would run 1.6 miles underground and cost $3.6 billion, according to the report. Maintenance for this alternative would cost an estimated $10 million a year.

This option would cost New York state billions of dollars more than community grid and rebuild replacement concepts. The grid concept, supported by Mayor-elect Ben Walsh, would cost an estimated $1.3 billion. The rebuild concept would cost an estimated $1.7 billion.

The highway is rusted and crumbling in some spots. Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

Syracuse University land   

The Orange alternative would pass underneath “unused space” at SU’s steam station and chilled water plant, which are adjacent the Syracuse Housing Authority’s headquarters on Burt Street.

A tunnel there could pose a “risk of encountering abandoned piles” and create a need to “protect sensitive utilities,” according to the report. The steam station heats Main Campus and nearby hospitals, including the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

Mike Haynie, the university’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, addressed the project during a community engagement forum on Thursday.

“It’s unlikely we will take a public position on 81,” Haynie said at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. “We have, through the University Hill Corp., stated a set of principles that we would like, whatever the option is, to deliver on.”

Those principles include “reasonable capital cost,” according to a University Hill Corp. letter published by The Post-Standard. University officials including Chancellor Kent Syverud serve on the corporation’s board.

SU would prefer to stay out of any political debate concerning I-81, Haynie said.

A protester attends a demonstration in Hanover Square in October in support of the viaduct option. Codie Yan | Staff Photographer

According to emails obtained by The Daily Orange through a public records request, university officials have met with state representatives to discuss the project.

In one email sent in June 2016, SU’s former associate vice president of government and community relations, Eric Persons, said the I-81 project director, Mark Frechette, and his consultants previously met with Pete Sala, the university’s vice president and chief facilities officer, and Tony Callisto, senior vice president for safety and chief law enforcement officer.

“Tony is getting more involved as they come out with more info about potential traffic patterns and changes to accessing U Hill,” Persons wrote.

Other tunnel impacts

WSP’s recommended tunnel option would pass under a multi-story parking garage at Madison Towers, an apartment complex on Presidential Courts. It would also pass directly underneath the Pioneer Homes public housing community, a low-income neighborhood near SU’s Brewster/Boland/Brockway dorms.

Pioneer Homes, which borders SU’s steam station to the north, is the oldest public housing project in New York state. It’s located in a census tract known for extremely concentrated minority poverty.

Published on December 4, 2017 at 3:03 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek