Syracuse-area Rep. John Katko is jumping into the discussion on the future of Interstate 81. The Republican is calling on the New York state and federal governments to include all options for the future of I-81 when a scoping report is released to the public in the coming weeks.
The current options for the future of the aging viaduct include: replacing it with another raised viaduct; building a tunnel; or constructing a street-level boulevard and rerouting through traffic around the city.
The scoping report will whittle down 16 original plans. But Katko wants all of the major ones outlined in depth in this report.
"I think New York state owes the pubic the duty of examining each one, at least each one of the options in depth -- whether they think it’s a good idea or not,” said Katko. “Because what they think is a good idea, may not be what the public thinks. And the public should have a say when we have a billion dollar project. And I don’t think a bunch of engineers should decide what is going to be for everybody else.”
Katko met with state transportation officials last week, and has sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration outlining his concerns.
“There should be at least one of each of the options in that final report. Because up until now, we have no idea what the costs are, we have no idea what the design looks like. We have no idea what the impact on the community is going to be. We have no idea on the impact to public housing down in the city,” said Katko.
