SLOWLY CRUMBLING: With changes pending, I-81 continues to deteriorate

The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York

Underneath the Interstate 81 viaduct on East Washington Street, the scene reflects the stark reality of the interstate: Green paint coated guardrails, struts of the interstate are falling off and guardrail joints are crumbling. A pipe is covered with rust and a light bulb attached to wire dangles upside down on a strut.
This “structurally deficient” section of highway running through Syracuse has been slapped with band-aids over the last decade, as a long-term solution has been debated and delayed.
The 855-mile interstate highway that connects Wellesley Island in northern New York to Dandridge, Tennessee, is in dire need of receiving a comprehensive treatment following years of snowy winters and heavy traffic. What that treatment will be is still unknown, as the New York State Department of Transportation is currently considering several options for renovating the highway. A consulting firm is conducting a review of all possible options and is expected to complete it this summer.
“Structurally deficient” is a condition indicating that a deficiency is present in a bridge and needs attention, according to The National Bridge Inventory Index. State officials have labeled approximately 66 bridges in the county as structurally deficient — labels that the area is aware of, but hasn’t been able to reach a substantial plan of action to fix. The damaged infrastructure poses no immediate threat to public safety.
Additionally, 23 percent of bridges, or 107 bridges, in Onondaga County are classified as “functionally obsolete,” which describes a state of a bridge that is no longer sufficient for its task by design.
A 2013 I-81 Corridor Study found that of 76 bridges located along I-81 and I-690, 9 percent were deemed structurally deficient and 60 percent were considered functionally obsolete. Eighteen of those bridges are in the viaduct section of I-81 in downtown Syracuse.

Functionally obsolete bridges may be safe and structurally fine, but the condition indicates a bridge doesn’t have enough ...

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