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Traffic backed up on Rt 81 northbound at Brighton Ave., Syracuse, NY because of road construction. Diick Blume/The Post Standard

(Dick Blume | dblume@syracuse.com)

Editor's note: Sept. 2 is the deadline for the public to submit comments on the New York state Department of Transportation's Interstate 81 Draft Scoping Report.

The report sorts through the alternatives for repairing or replacing a 3.5 mile section of the highway, including the elevated section through downtown Syracuse, and creating the missing connections between I-81 and Interstate 690. It recommends six alternatives for further study.

After the public comments are gathered, state and federal transportation officials could decide to reinstate some of the discarded options or consider new ideas in its Final Scoping Report. Any ideas that don't make the cut will not be studied further. Ideas that do make the cut will be fleshed out in greater detail. And then it's on to more studies and, at last, a final decision.

In anticipation of the upcoming comment deadline, we combed through letters to the editor and comments on Syracuse.com to identify questions about I-81 that come up over and over again. We're presenting answers to these frequently asked questions in a series of Interstate 81 FAQs.

To submit a question for consideration in future I-81 FAQs, send an email to letters@syracuse.com.

What impact would rerouting I-81 traffic along I-481 have on travel time through Syracuse?

At a May 20 meeting sponsored by the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse Moving People Transportation Coalition, some 30 people gathered to discuss I-81's future.

At the meeting, downtown developer Robert Doucette proposed to "simply" redirect Interstate 81 traffic from the south to I-481 north to I-690, which would reconnect with I-81 North at the I-690/I-81 interchange. This proposal, Doucette said, would replace the I-81 viaduct, not affect drivers' access to Destiny USA and Seventh North Street businesses, and would only take five minutes longer to travel.

Save81.org members at the meeting disputed the claim, so Peter Sarver of ACT's Moving People Transportation Coalition took it upon himself to find out. He drove the routes two days later, on a Thursday afternoon. Here are his results:

• Traveling between Seventh North Street and Brighton Avenue on I-81. Time: 10 minutes. Distance: 6.5 miles.

• Traveling between Brighton Avenue entrance on I-481 and Seventh North Street ramp off of I-81. Time: 17 minutes. Distance: 15 miles.

"Even though the distance is further, the travel time is cut down because you can travel at higher speed using Doucette's new loop," Sarver said in an email. "The question is whether that extra seven minutes is a deal-maker or deal-breaker."