#interstate 81

My wife and I rode our Harley Davidson Ultra Limited 898.9 miles in four and quarter days.  Our goal was to ride our motorcycle the entire length of the Back of the Dragon from Marion, Virginia to St. Marys West Virginia. The Back of the Dragon

Well, it’s dry reading, but NYSDOT and the FHWA have published the Record of the Decision, and it’s the Community Grid.   Now the bad news:  there’s a 150 day window for lawsuits.  That means Pyramid’s grandstadning lawyer may want his day in court, even if it accomplishes nothing.

Worse news:  Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin has yet to say anything.  Nor has any other prominent Republican.  But if he beats Kathy Hochul in November, it’s anybody’s guess if he will allow construction to continue or, at the insistence of Pyramid(’s pet politicians), throws a monkey wrench in the works.  

But still, we got to this point.  Whew!  

I should have known.  I really should have known.

Save81 went for more than a month after posting on February 25, so naturally, I started to wonder (again) if we were ever going to hear from them again.

Their latest epistle recycles the talking point is to stoke outrage by claiming that NYSDOT has not responded to the public comments received during the public comment period.  

This is not entirely true.

First of all, the DOT DID respond when everyone lost their minds over the thought of the new roundabout being near an elementary school.  NYSDOT said last year they would move it, in spite of the fact that roundabouts are safer than 4-way intersections.  And they announced a few weeks ago that they had moved it, north to the intersection with Van Buren.  Save81′s February 25 Facebook post savaged the roundabouts, so they know it had been moved.

And that was the second high-profile change NYSDOT had made.  The first was to make changes to the 481 exit for route 5, after people lost their minds in 2019 over the project not doing anything there.  It never had.  But the traffic engineers still looked at it.

So NYSDOT does respond.  It’s just the response isn’t, “My God!  You’re right.  we’ll build the skybridge instead,” and it’s not likely to be.  The contracts NYSDOT is looking to bid on after the Record of Decision are all consistent with the community grid alternative.  Not getting the answer you want doesn’t mean you’re not heard.

The other thing is that the Final Environmental Impact Statement is due out soon, and that will probably contain the responses you want.  What, you can’t wait?  

Of course, Save81 probably knows that, but it’s not good for stoking outrage.  

I should have known they would be back.  As long as the Congel family and the Salina hoteliers believe the grid will put them out of business, I guess Save81 will be.  

Because let’s face it, this isn’t a nerdy, technocratic debate over what happens to Syracuse if they remove the I-81 viaduct and replace it with surface streets.  The history of projects in other cities shows conclusively this will not be a disaster.  This a front in the culture war, with aggrieved white people, many of whom support Trump, taking umbrage over losing “their” viaduct and having to drive on those dirty streets for a little over a mile.  

The entire tragic story is made worse by the new details being revealed of the fiery accident around mile market 116 on 81 North in Pennsylvania during a snow squall..

Authorities say the six people killed during the 80-vehicle pileup included four men and two women.

The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reports that Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Albert Barnes said Friday that the victims of Monday's crash on Interstate 81 were between 40 to 70 years old...

But the macabre nature of the event is awful: All were burned beyond recognition. Two are believed to have been from Pennsylvania and the other four from out of state. Names will be released by state police as soon as a positive identity is made and families are notified... 

Save81 has returned to one of its old talking points of the grid making it impossible for traffic to reach the Dome.  Several points come to mind:   1.  They talk about 43,000 cars going through what is now the Van Buren roundabout.  Where does that number come from?  First, it would be per day, not all at once, and even then, the 43,000 might be a math mistake.  As you can see from the diagrams in the linked PDF, someone probably took a number on one segment during PEAK hours and multiplied by 24.  But “peak” means that would be rush hour.  Before and after that time, the numbers would be lower.  That’s why the daily total wouldn’t add up to 43,000.

2.  The roundabout is now ideally situated for people coming from the south on BL81, since they will turn right.  People from the north, east, or west would get off 690 at Crouse or Irving and go south on those streets.  So anyone on Almond St. north of the roundabout would probably not have to deal with it.  

After being quiet for more than a week, Save81 popped back to life going on about how traffic to the Carrier Dome would be a nightmare on the grid.  

The irony is that the DOT moved the roundabout to the intersection with Van Buren, right by the dome.  So, people from the south would take I-81 to BL81 and turn right on the roundabout.