Steve Kimatian is an attorney and resident of Syracuse. He wrote a guest column for Syracuse.com from 2013 to 2017.

By Steve Kimatian | Special to Syracuse.com

Rarely does a community face the prospect of getting a 50-year decision wrong for a second time. Yet, if the decision on Interstate 81 is the community grid option, it will.

A recurring theme is that the initial decision 50 years ago to build I-81 elevated was wrong and somehow we would be rectifying the past. The path chosen then decimated the 15th Ward, destroying homes of the most vulnerable people in the city. The injury was compounded by insufficient funds being allocated toward assisting those displaced. But to conclude that going with a grid now will “reverse the racial injustice of having constructed an elevated I-81” then, is illogical. Because elevated was wrong then, does not automatically mean the grid is right now.

It’s easy to see how we got to this point. Much of the community wants to side with those who were hurt most when I-81 went up. And we should. They got the raw deal then, and at a minimum deserve that we get it right now. But, the threshold question is not what was done 50 years ago, but what is the best option now. What will be the impact on neighborhoods, on the economy, ensuring a sustainable environment, and improving the quality of life?

Some say the grid will make the city more livable and encourage more people to live in the city, particularly millennials. There is minimal justification to believe that having a grid or not will encourage people to live in the city. We have apartments and condos going up at a rapid pace with seemingly no roadblock to their continuing, and that is with an elevated I-81. There is also no disadvantage to those living in the city to get on I-81 through the on/off ramps.

Further, a grid makes no difference to those coming to work in the city, other than there could be an additional 20,000 cars going through the city, by my calculation.

Improving the economy is one of the project’s priorities. Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration is perhaps the best argument on why a grid isn’t necessary to improve the economy. Syracuse has brought in citywide 5G, been designated a Microsoft Smart Cities Hub, grown the Tech Garden and created job growth with JMA Wireless, global banks and healthcare. All this has been done with an elevated I-81. Some say a grid option would offer more land to develop. While that might be a big plus for a landlocked community such as Manhattan Island, there is plenty of land to develop on the city west side and in surrounding Onondaga County. And if the partnership between the mayor and county executive continues, we will have a greater distribution of our economy throughout the city and county.

Reference is made to other cities that have taken down their interstate highways. But the comparisons are not applicable. Milwaukee only focused on a more effective Interstate interchange, not a grid or elevated option. Boston’s Big Dig put the Interstate underground, which is not practical here. Fort Washington dealt with a depressed highway as an obstacle, not an elevated, and the Central Freeway in San Francisco did not carry through traffic. The current I-81 and I-90 highways are an elegant solution to traffic flowing north/south and east/west, to be replaced by a clunky configuration of attempted social engineering.

Sustainability and environment are other considerations. Is pouring an additional 20,000 cars a day into grid system good for the environment? Is it good for pedestrians and bikes? Cities are choking with traffic and automobile emissions across the country. Standing, idling cars at intersections radiate tons of toxic pollutants and particulates every day. Cities spend billions trying to eliminate noxious emissions. Cities are searching for creative solutions to reduce traffic, whereas we want to increase traffic.

The most important factor should be what is better for the future economy of the region, not what is good individually for the city or the county. The grid might have been the right choice 50 years ago, but not now. Once again, Syracuse is in the back of the pack of cities, for just when the grid concept has been played out, Syracuse is thinking of going with the grid. This is the time we should be going with the elevated structure.

We need to be nimble for the future. The grid locks us in. It deprives us of mobility. If we are to take advantage of economic development, a region that allows the quickest routes from A to B will dominate. Plus, an elevated I-81 plays to the future where there will be autonomous vehicles.

By going with a grid we are locking into the past, not building pathways to the future. Syracuse is on the verge of making another 50-year mistake.

Opposing view: Let’s unite Syracuse: Replace I-81 with a community grid (Editorial)