“Rethinking I-81”: OCL’s Study Blog

Posted May 20, 2009

Stent (or Dagger?) in the Heart of Town: Urban Freeways in Syracuse, 1944-1967 The 1961 Decisions in Syracuse, by SU political scientists Guthrie Birkhead, Roscoe Martin, and others, explored a series of case studies of metropolitan action in Syracuse in the Post–World War II era. The study focused on public decision-making and the relative influence... Read more »

“Rethinking I-81” – OCL’s Study Blog

Posted May 7, 2009

Building Infrastructure-Building Experience This week’s Citiwire.net columns by Neal Peirce and Alex Marshall focus on the promise of high speed rail as the “New Deal” for transportation.  “My high-speed rail proposal,” President Obama is quoted as saying, “will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient... Read more »

“Rethinking I-81: OCL’s Study Blog

Posted April 19, 2009

John O. Norquist, Change Agent April 19, 2009 One of the panelists at this week’s annual meeting of the Metropolitan Development Association is John O. Norquist, a former lathe operator and community organizer who later became a state legislator and then mayor.  As mayor of Milwaukee from 1988-2004, Norquist oversaw a revision of the city’s... Read more »

“Rethinking I-81”: OCL’s Study Blog

Posted April 6, 2009

I-81 FINDINGS: PHYSICAL CONDITIONS The Onondaga Citizens League “Rethinking I-81” Study Committee has studied the history and the physical condition of the I-81 corridor, reviewed access issues, and examined cases of freeway removals in American cities. The study report, including the committee’s findings and recommendations, will be issued later this spring. In considering the future of... Read more »

“Rethinking I-81”: OCL’s Study Blog

Posted January 30, 2009

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I-81 DOWNTOWN CLOSED? When we think about engineering solutions to traffic problems, it’s useful to keep in mind that human behavior is a key variable in the equation.  Drivers adjust their behavior to the situations presented to them.  When the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged San Francisco’s Central Freeway, the destroyed... Read more »