Draft:Interstate 81 Business

• Comment: I would say that it's a bit premature to submit this topic as an article. I would disagree on notability from the reviewer, but I would probably hold off until the designation is put in use before putting an article on it out there. Imzadi 1979 → 04:06, 31 October 2025 (UTC)
• Comment: Not only what Bulldog1979 said, but it I agree it is WP:TOOSOON for I-81 Business to be created. When I last visited in August (and again in April), the highway wasn't even near completion. Bryce M - 08:47, 26 February 2026

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Interstate 81 Business
Business Loop 81
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length	11.8 mi (19.0 km)
Major junctions
South end	I-81 in Syracuse
Major intersections	I-690 in Syracuse NY 370 in Syracuse I-90 Toll / New York Thruway in Salina NY 481 in Cicero
North end	I-81 in Cicero
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Onondaga
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways

Interstate 81 Business (I-81 Bus.), more commonly known as Business Loop 81 (BL 81), is a planned business route of I-81 that will run through Syracuse, New York, and some of its northern suburbs.

It is planned to replace the current routing of I-81 through Syracuse, which includes an elevated viaduct built in the late 1950s, as the aging downtown viaduct is replaced by a street-level boulevard. The rest of I-81 Bus./BL 81 will remain a freeway. I-81 will then be rerouted outside the city and replace the current I-481.

When commissioned, I-81 Bus. will be the first Interstate business route for both I-81 and New York state. The new route is expected to be designated in 2026 as construction concludes on the northern and southern termini designed to reroute I-81. The viaduct will be demolished around 2027, and Almond Street will be rebuilt to take the I-81 Bus. routing as a boulevard.

Route description

The majority of I-81 Bus./BL 81 will remain a freeway, save for a section in downtown Syracuse that is currently the viaduct but will be converted into a street-level boulevard.

I-81 Bus. will begin at exit 81 on its parent route in a recently rebuilt interchange near the Southside, Eastside, and Valley neighborhoods of Syracuse. It will then have an immediate exit on East Glenn Street, complete with traffic circles above the highway and other ramps that connect back to I-81. After two exits it is to go underneath a railroad bridge as a pedestrian path from Martin Luther King Boulevard straddles the roadway. I-81 Bus. will then enter a traffic circle with Van Buren Street, then continue north as Almond Street. After 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of street intersections, including one with NY 92, I-81 Bus. will turn left on Erie Boulevard (also known as NY 5) before emerging back into a freeway under I-690. Ramps connecting I-690 westbound to I-81 Bus. northbound and I-81 Bus. southbound and I-690 eastbound will be renovated and maintained, ensuring high-speed access between the highways.

Turning north, the BL 81 freeway will have newly rebuilt interchanges with Court Street, Bear Street (NY 298), and others before a large intersection with NY 370, which becomes the Onondaga Lake Parkway, in addition to other streets serving NBT Bank Stadium and the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center. It will then interchange with 7th Street, the New York State Thruway, and US 11 before serving the Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

A few miles north in Cicero, I-81 Bus. will have an interchange with NY 481 shortly before merging back with I-81 and ending. The series of interchanges with NY 481 and I-81 was formerly a complete cloverleaf interchange between I-81 and I-481/NY 481, the latter two highways having once shared the same right-of-way, but is being reconstructed as a three-quarters cloverleaf interchange between BL 81 and NY 481, while I-81 passes by on the northeast corner, serving as the terminus of the two other highways at two respectively separate spots. Like the intersection between I-81 and I-81 Bus. near Southside, this interchange in Cicero is in the process of being rebuilt to allow I-81 to flow seamlessly into its new configuration on the soon-to-be decommissioned I-481.

History

Original routing of I-81

Main article: Interstate 81 in New York § History

Top: View of the viaduct from the street in 2025.
Bottom: entering the viaduct in 2025

I-81, first designated in New York State in 1957, was built in several stages and completed for the most part in the mid-1960s. In Syracuse, part of I-81 was built on an elevated highway, intended to make travel from Downtown Syracuse to Syracuse University faster. Extensions of the North Syracuse–Brewerton segment south into Downtown Syracuse (now exit 3B) and north to Parish (now exit 114) were completed c. 1961.

The construction of the I-81 came with much controversy. After the freeway was completed, many neighborhoods were disrupted by the presence of the freeway. One neighborhood in particular, the 15th Ward in Syracuse, was largely replaced by the freeway. This decimated a close-knit Black-American community. The New York Civil Liberties Union states that 1,300 familes were displaced by the viaduct when it was constructed. When the displaced community attempted to disperse out into the city, white residents fled, reducing the population of the city by 30 percent over 60 years, while the population of the county grew 55 percent.

Top: Entrance to the viaduct from Almond Street northbound in 2017.
Bottom: Almond Street southbound in 2025 below the viaduct, prior to demolition

Proposal to remove the viaduct

Replacing or removing the viaduct was a point of discussion during the 2010s, especially as the viaduct deteriorated while exceeding its expected useful life. After deliberating between three options, including a full rebuild of the viaduct and a "no-build" option, in 2019, the state chose the "community grid" option that would tear down the viaduct and replace it with an urban boulevard complete with traffic circles and stoplights.

Reconstruction of highways

The I-81 viaduct project, billed as the largest infrastructure project in the NYSDOT's history, began work on phase I in 2023, with $2.25 billion allocated to the project by the state. The project also received $180 million federally from the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program in 2024. By 2025, the NYSDOT awarded its fifth contract, which was to prepare the viaduct for closure and demolition, in addition to providing environmental remediations to the downtown community.

The northern intersection reopened in stages in 2025, with two new flyover ramps carrying I-481/future I-81 in its new configuration opening in May and July, respectively. In March 2026, the first stage of the revamped southern interchange between I-81 and I-481 was completed, allowing drivers from I-481/future I-81 southbound to seamlessly connect to I-81 southbound in its new configuration, while new exits and traffic circles connecting to I-81/future BL 81 northbound, as well as Brighton Ave. and East Glen St., were completed earlier that year.

Construction on a new roadway for BL 81 to reach a new roundabout with Van Buren St. and Almond St. also began that year next to the existing I-81 roadway leading to the viaduct, which is set to be closed and prepared for demoliton once the new approach and roundabout are completed. In addition, Interstate 690 will be widened to accommodate thru-traffic that once used the I-81 viaduct.

Feedback

Despite receiving praise from the NYCLU, urban planners and public officials, namely in the plan to redirect heavy traffic outside of downtown, the decision to remove the viaduct and downgrade the full Interstate designation was not without criticism from some in the Syracuse area. Some local residents worried the removal would accelerate gentrification, while many other residents did not have such fears. Some business owners in varying locations worried about a loss of revenue from the changes to vehicle traffic patterns, while many business owners were excited for increased foot traffic.

Others were worried about the release of toxic gases dust during the demolition of the viaduct, with the "Renew 81 for All" group arguing the project's "environmental impacts would exacerbate rather than resolve issues related to environmental racism that the highway already causes." Court challenges to the removal produced only temporary delays. In particular, one ruling that sided with "Renew 81 for All", namely that the environmental study on traffic needed to also take into account the future Micron complex in Cicero, was reversed in 2024 by the state appeals court.

The New York State Department of Transportation held several open houses open to the public in 2025, in addition to running informational booths at the New York State Fair and other festivals in Syracuse, with the aim of educating residents and receiving feedback.

Exit list

The entire route is in Onondaga County.

Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Syracuse	0.00	0.00			I-81 south – Binghamton	Continuation south
	0.2	0.32	16A	1A	East Glenn Street (NB), I-81 north – Watertown (SB)	Left exit southbound; currently I-481, which will become the new I-81; access from future I-81/current I-481 southbound to future BL 81/current I-81 northbound via East Glenn Street from exit 81 to Brighton Ave.
	0.3– 0.9	0.48– 1.4	17	1B	East Glen Street, South State Street, South Salina Street, Brighton Avenue, East Colvin Street	South State Street not signed northbound; access to JMA Wireless Dome; signed as exit 1C southbound
	84.07	135.30	18	–	Adams Street, Harrison Street	Access to Oncenter and Syracuse University; exit will be demolished when the elevated highway is downgraded to a boulevard
	84.71	136.33	—	3A	I-690 – East Syracuse, Fairgrounds, Baldwinsville	No southbound access to I-690 west; exit will be remodeled once elevated highway is downgraded to a boulevard
	85.25	137.20	19	3B	Clinton Street, Salina Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	85.37	137.39	20	–	Franklin Street, West Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	85.81	138.10	21	–	Spencer Street, Catawba Street	Southbound exit and entrance
	86.23– 87.45	138.77– 140.74	22	4B	NY 298 (Bear Street) to I-690 west	I-690 not signed northbound
			23	5	Hiawatha Boulevard, Destiny USA Drive	Southbound exit only; signed as exits 5A (Hiawatha) and 5B (Destiny)
	86.90	139.85	23–24	5A-C	NY 370 (Park Street, Onondoga Lake Parkway) / Hiawatha Boulevard / Old Liverpool Road – Liverpool	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; signed as exits 5A (NY 370 east), 5B (NY 370 west; closed indefinitely due to truck safety issues at the Onondaga Lake Parkway Bridge), and 5C (Old Liverpool)
Salina	88.02	141.65	25	6	7th North Street – Liverpool
	88.30	142.11	25A	7	I-90 Toll / New York Thruway – Albany, Buffalo	Exit 36 on I-90 / Thruway
	89.85	144.60	26	8	US 11 – Mattydale
	90.46	145.58	27	9A	Syracuse Airport	Combined with exit 9B northbound and exit 8 southbound
Cicero	91.28	146.90	28	9B	Taft Road – North Syracuse
	11.3	18.2	29	11A-B	I-81 south – Binghamton NY 481 north – Oswego	Exits 96N-S on what is currently I-481 and exits 1A-B on NY 481; I-481 will become the new I-81.
	11.8	19.0			I-81 north – Watertown	Continuation north
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

See also

• List of business routes of the Interstate Highway System
  • Interstate 80 Business (Sacramento, California), a former alignment of Interstate 80
• West Side Highway, formerly the West Side Elevated Highway
• Inner Loop (Rochester)
• New York State Route 895, formerly Interstate 895

External Links

• Business Loop 81 exit list at NYSRoads.com