(Syracuse, NY \u2013 Jan. 18, 2013) In a letter sent\u00a0Friday, Save81.org urged the state Department of Transportation to abandon its consideration of a contemplated \u201cboulevard\u201d alternative for dealing with the aging viaduct portion of Interstate 81 in Downtown Syracuse. \u00a0The letter, signed by 25 coalition members, was included in Save81.org\u2019s submission to the DOT as part of the public comment period of the I-81 project\u2019s Environmental Impact Study. \u00a0The letter and accompanying materials will be made part of the I-81 project\u2019s official record.<\/p>\n
\u201cReplacing I-81 with a boulevard in Downtown Syracuse would have significant negative effects on our region\u2019s economy, public safety, traffic and environment, which is why more than 3,500 residents have signed our petition,\u201d said Mark Nicotra, Save81.org spokesman and Town Supervisor of Salina. \u201cWe\u2019re committed to making sure the state acknowledges these concerns and explores solutions for I-81 that will work for the entire community, such as a tunnel, depressed highway or iconic new bridge.\u00a0\u00a0We look forward to continue playing a role in this important discussion as we progress through 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the letter, Save81.org calls for the boulevard proposal to \u201cbe eliminated and not considered further,\u201d because it fails \u201cto meet the purposes, goals and objectives which have been identified by the [Federal Highway Administration] and NYSDOT in connection with the Syracuse region I-81 corridor\u201d and could create \u201ca host of unintended consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, Save81.org\u2019s submission to the DOT cites analysis demonstrating the disastrous affect a boulevard would have on area traffic; resolutions by the Central New York Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO) and the Central and Northern New York Building & Construction Trades Council; and results from a November poll commissioned by Save81.org showing overwhelming opposition to a boulevard among Syracuse and Onondaga County voters.<\/p>\n
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(Syracuse, NY \u2013 Jan. 18, 2013) In a letter sent\u00a0Friday, Save81.org urged the state Department of Transportation to abandon its consideration of a contemplated \u201cboulevard\u201d alternative for dealing with the aging viaduct portion of Interstate 81 in Downtown Syracuse. \u00a0The letter, signed by 25 coalition members, was included in Save81.org\u2019s submission to the DOT as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22341],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regional"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-dO3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}