The I-81 Viaduct Comes Down This Year. Here Is What Phase 2 Actually Looks Like.

The I-81 viaduct project, a $2.25 billion, six-year rebuild that is the largest road construction project in NYSDOT history, reached its halfway mark in 2026. The most visible phase is now beginning: the elevated structure through downtown Syracuse is projected to close by the end of this year, with the first sections of concrete coming down.

For drivers, residents, and downtown businesses, this is the year the skyline changes.

Where Phase 1 Stands

The first three contracts are complete. Contract 4, a $313.5 million Community Grid project on the east side awarded to CNY Alliance in July 2024, is still underway. Contract 5 is progressing. Half a dozen new interchanges and road configurations have already opened. NYSDOT says I-481 work should be finished by mid-2026.

More than 15 million pounds of steel have been used across the first five contracts alone.

What Phase 2 Covers

Phase 2 rebuilds the corridor from Leavenworth Avenue to Crouse Avenue, including new interchange connections to West Street and the future Business Loop 81. I-690 will be reconstructed entirely through the downtown corridor. The project will remove 37 bridges and install 28 new ones with new downtown access points.

The centerpiece is Contract 6, which NYSDOT Project Director Betsy Parmley described as the biggest contract in the history of DOT. It is estimated at over $900 million, three times larger than any previous contract in the project, and was expected to be awarded in early 2026. It covers the north end viaduct removal, the new West Street interchange, and I-81/I-690 connections.

Salt City Constructors, a joint venture of Lancaster Development, Tully Construction, D.A. Collins, and Cold Spring Construction, is already handling the north side work, including a $296.4 million I-81/481 interchange reconstruction and a $218.9 million Business Loop 81 project.

The Underground Work Nobody Sees

Starting in late summer or fall 2026, a separate infrastructure project will dig roughly 30 feet underground through downtown to install a new mile-long drainage trunkline along with water and electric lines. The route runs from Erie Boulevard East between Almond Street and University Avenue, down Water Street from Almond to State, along Erie Boulevard to Salina Street, up Salina to Harold Place, and from there to Onondaga Creek.

The purpose is separating rainwater runoff from sewage flow. Construction starts at Onondaga Creek and works backward through downtown, block by block.

Traffic and Business Impacts

NYSDOT traffic studies project that the new routing will add roughly four to five minutes to trips compared to current routes. Once complete, current I-81 through-traffic will split: some moves through downtown on the Community Grid, while highway-speed traffic diverts onto the reconfigured I-481.

Summer festivals including Taste of Syracuse may need to relocate during construction. Washington Street and the Inner Harbor waterfront are under consideration as alternatives.

Downtown businesses are already feeling the pressure. Multiple owners have reported revenue drops of 50 percent from road closures. The Panini’s closure on Harrison Street is the latest example of the construction squeeze on small businesses in the corridor.

Timeline

The first seven spans of viaduct are targeted for removal, with the elevated structure expected to fully close by the end of 2026. New construction following demolition is projected for 2027. The Community Grid should be finished by 2028. Full project completion: 2029.

For the next three years, downtown Syracuse will be a construction zone. The payoff is a fundamentally different city when it is over.