What should happen to Interstate-81?

A multiyear, multi-agency study to decide the future of Interstate 81 in Syracuse and Onondaga County is poised to start.

Regional transportation experts and government officials, confronting a stretch of superhighway nearing the end of its life span and growing pressure to consider alternatives to the elevated roadways that bisect the city, have spent the past year laying plans to explore I-81's fate.

James D'Agostino, director of the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council, will announce those plans at a meeting at 1 p.m. of the Onondaga County Legislature Facilities Committee.The effort is expected to include a push to gather public opinion and ideas to guide the transportation planners who will design the highway's successor.

"In my personal opinion, it's a very big deal for the community," D'Agostino said of the study.

Happily or not, residents and motorists have had to live for a half-century with decisions made during the 1950s, when I-81 was planned, he said.

"Whatever decision comes out of this, people are going to be living with, again, for a very long time -- 50 years or maybe more," D'Agostino said. "That's why I think it's very important that the problem is studied correctly and comprehensively and a lot of input is received. Because the implications on everyone in this community are huge, both from a personal transportation perspective and an economic development perspective."

Beyond that, the decision -- even if it is to maintain an elevated highway -- likely will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to execute, said Mark Frechette, director of planning at DOT's Syracuse office.

The study will include:

-- An "I-81 Participation Project" to be undertaken by the transportation council. The project will tell residents and users about I-81's history, gather their concerns about its current condition and collect their ideas about its future. This is to take place at workshops and open houses and through surveys, questionnaires and a Web site, among other ways.

The transportation council is in the process of choosing a consultant to help. Outreach is expected to begin this fall and continue into winter 2010-11.

-- An "I-81 Travel Demand Modeling Project." Traffic experts will use computer models to learn how various proposed alterations to I-81 would affect surrounding areas. This zone includes Onondaga County; Phoenix, Brewerton and Central Square in Oswego County; and Bridgeport in Madison County.

A consultant is being picked. The modeling of preliminary concepts is expected to start by the end of 2009 and continue through summer 2010.¶

-- An "I-81 Corridor Study" sponsored by the state Department of Transportation. This study will decide the superhighway's fate between its interchanges with Interstate 481 in North Syracuse and at Brighton Avenue in Syracuse.

The study will start with a review of I-81's existing and projected future conditions. An analysis will follow the options passed along from the participation and modeling projects, looking at their potential affects on the economy, environment and transportation, and social and physical conditions.

The DOT is selecting a consultant for the study. It's expected to begin by this winter; officials aren't predicting when it will end.

County Legislature Chairman Bill Meyer, chairman of the transportation council's policy committee, and Syracuse Common Council President Bea Gonzalez, the vice chairwoman, are liaisons to their legislatures and communities.

"There's been a whole lot of work up to this point, but it's been way under the radar," said Meyer, R-Cicero.

Officials today will introduce a brochure explaining the effort and a Web site to keep people posted.

"It's no secret that portions of I-81 are nearing the end of their life span. To continue operating as they always have, these parts of the road will require significant investments of time, energy and money," the brochure says.

"One of the growing problems is the viaduct through Syracuse," Frechette said, referring to the 1.4-mile section between Harrison and Clinton streets. It's too narrow by modern standards for the 100,000 vehicles that use it daily. Its 45-mph restriction is the only such stretch along I-81's entire 850-mile run between Canada and Tennessee.

Government officials, local agencies and residents already have suggested removing the elevated portions, placing the highway underground, moving the highway, rebuilding the highway, replacing the overpasses with at-grade boulevards or reclaiming their undersides for art space, the brochure said.

Others are likely to be posed, D'Agostino said. Each will be run through the transportation council's computer models to learn how they might change traffic patterns and volumes on other roads, affect vehicle use and change air and noise pollution levels.

Suburban commuters as well as city residents will be consulted, D'Agostino said. So will businesses.

Input from the Onondaga Citizens League also is expected. The civic issues group launched its own examination of I-81 this year in anticipation of the official study.

"We wanted to take a little closer look from more of, say, the social and economic development effects of different alternatives," said Sandra Barrett, the league's executive vice president.

John Mariani can be reached at jmariani@syracuse.com or at 470-3105.