State awards 5th contract in I-81 project’s initial phase

Pact includes starting to remove parts of the viaduct          

SYRACUSE — New York State has awarded Salt City Constructors the fifth and final contract of the initial phase of the Interstate 81 (I-81) viaduct-replacement project. The $251 million pact is also the first contract to include removal of portions of the viaduct, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul said April 22. The work on this contract “signals the transition of the project away from its initial stages,” Hochul’s office said. Work on the fifth contract is set to begin “imminently.”

About the contract work

As part of contract five, construction will begin on the southside of Syracuse, with the effort to turn the southern end of Almond Street and I-81 into future Business Loop 81. Work includes reconstructing and converting I-81 to Business Loop 81 from just north of Colvin Street to Burt Street, gradually bringing the highway down to street grade. The project also introduces several “traffic-calming” measures, including curved roadways and narrower lanes and shoulders. Plans also call for a grassy median, decorative lighting, and trees as traffic approaches Martin Luther King East. Contract five also includes the construction of a roundabout at Business Loop 81 and Van Buren Street, which will help slow northbound traffic as it approaches Martin Luther King East and downtown Syracuse. The roundabout was initially planned for a location at Martin Luther King East, near the STEAM at Dr. King Elementary School, but was relocated after community members expressed safety concerns about its proximity to the school. As construction on contract five proceeds, two thirds of the way through completion, the viaduct will officially close to traffic south of Harrison Street and crews will remove about seven spans of the viaduct. Southbound traffic destined for Exit 18 to Adams and Harrison Streets, and northbound traffic that enters using the on-ramp to I-81 at Harrison Street will remain on the viaduct. Temporary improvements will be made to Almond Street to allow for all traffic destined to or from Business Loop 81 to access the central business district, Hochul’s office said. Additional components of the fifth contract include an off-ramp from Business Loop 81 northbound to Colvin Street to enhance connectivity to the downtown areas, Syracuse University, and the university’s south campus. They also include improvements to the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County’s stormwater runoff and sewage systems, along with new traffic signals with video detection on mast-arm poles to enhance safety and traffic flow. The components also include pedestrian and cyclist amenities, such as designated bike lanes, shared use paths, new sidewalks and crosswalks with enhanced pedestrian activated signals. They also include noise barriers along Business Loop 81 southbound between Martin Luther King East and along the off-ramp to South State Street, South Salina Street, and Brighton Avenue, in the northbound direction between a half mile south of the I-81 bridge over Colvin Street to just north of the I-81 bridge over Colvin Street.

Project work so far

The initial work has focused largely on improvements needed to redesignate Interstate 481 as the new I-81 — and toward the later phase of eliminating the viaduct and establishing the community grid. The state also sees this latest contract award as marking a “significant milestone in this historic project to reunite the long-divided communities of Syracuse’s Southside and modernize the entire transportation landscape of Central New York.” Comprised of eight separate contracts, construction on the project began in the spring of 2023. With the award of the fifth contract, all five phase one contracts are now under construction, which New York State considers a “major milestone” as the project continues. The project is being funded with a mix of federal and state government money.