With summer construction comes backups, delays on Syracuse’s major highways – CNYcentral.com

Crews are working on both Interstate 81 and Interstate 690 and it's causing longer commutes and traffic jams for many drivers.

The summer season is prime-time for construction projects. If you need proof of that, just look at two major highways that run through Syracuse.

Crews are working on both Interstate 81 and Interstate 690 and it's causing longer commutes and traffic delays.

The delays coming into Syracuse on Interstate 81 north are heavy; it's right where downtown traffic comes onto the highway at the hospitals. Crews are closing the two left-side, the through lanes, between 9am and 2:30pm to avoid rush hour, but that means the work time is shortened, so the closures are expected to continue until Thursday.

That closure has proven especially tough when people approach the Interstate 690 interchange, according to state Department of Transportation spokesperson Gene Cilento. "A lot of the people coming up from the ramp wanna go left, and people on 81 wanna go right," he explains. "So there's a lot of weaving, a lot of movement of traffic in that small area. And, this is one of the busiest road areas in Syracuse, seeing almost 100-thousand vehicles daily.

It's going to be longer before the I-690 work near Teall Avenue is done - workers are almost halfway through this year's portion of a two-year project to rebuild the elevated areas of the highway there. However, after months of demolition dismantling, onlookers are now starting to see construction at the site.

"The pile driving just started within the past few days and there's also work going on clearing some demolition work on the Teall end of the bridge," Cilento said.

The massive construction project - and all the detours along Beech Street - is also tough on businesses in the area like Edward Joy Electric. They're working extra hard to let people know they're still in business."We just want to make sure that, with this construction and with the detours, they know that we're still open," Brandon Turner of Edward Joy Electric said. "We will be open even when they close the other exits as well."

There is some good news for the businesses and people who live close to the construction: It was really loud last week, as concrete was pounded off the bridge decks, but most of the demolition is done and the building phases should be quieter.

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With summer construction comes backups, delays on Syracuse's major highways - CNYcentral.com