When it comes to public polling, it’s obvious what the residents of the Syracuse area are not in favor of to replace the I-81 viaduct. Numerous polls over the past few years have indicated, Central New York is against having a community grid run through the city of Syracuse without a path for high speed Interstate traffic. The community grid is not an acceptable option.
Recently, Representative Al Stirpe, of the 127th District, had nearly 1,000 constituents complete his 2017 Community Survey. The 127th District consists of Clay, Cicero, Manlius, Pompey, Fabius and Tully. Representative Stirpe said he will be taking the survey results into account throughout his work in Albany.
Save81 was encouraged to see the survey results indicated the vast majority of 127th District constituents are against replacing the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse with a community grid. The question was as follows:
“The State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration are making plans to address the aging I-81 viaduct in the city of Syracuse. Two main ideas have been presented, including a plan to create a community grid in Syracuse and reroute I-81 around the city, and other to rebuild I-81 to existing federal specifications. Both plans will require multi-year construction projects. Which option do you prefer?”
The vast majority (71%), favor rebuilding the viaduct through the city or replacing with a hybrid tunnel/street-level option, with only 29% preferring the community grid option. These results mirror our polls results from 2016: 59% of the respondents support keeping I-81 as an interstate highway through Syracuse with only 34% supporting turning it into a boulevard. 7% of the respondents were not sure.
Now is the time for the majority to be heard. Say no to community gridlock and continuing contacting your elected officials about this important project.
Thank you Representative Stirpe for listening to the voice of the people and allowing us to see democracy in action. The full survey results are published below.