"Aging, decaying, inadequate, or inefficient infrastructure can interfere with the quality of life and economic activity. Cities cannot afford to wait until bridges crumble or water mains break before addressing infrastructure needs. Efficient transportation, environmental, utility, and technology systems are essential to building the quality of life that families and businesses want and expect."
Background
Throughout the 1900's, and most significantly the last half of the century, Syracuse found itself, like most northeastern cities, growing and changing without expanding its outer limits. Although suburbia surged on its fringes, the City envisioned growth through modernization, replacing older buildings with newer ones, resurfacing and widening roads where necessary, and allowing for industrial development where industry had always been.
In doing so, the City was able to put resources into some of its shining jewels, especially the park system which had become nationally known. At the same time, the course of progress and the continued surface changes belied some of the much-needed modernization work that needed to be accomplished. The water system, gravity fed from Skaneateles Lake along with the sewer system, was taken for granted, repair work being affected only when needed. Bridges and roads, once arterials and important to the transport of goods, services, and people from one area of the region to another, soon became neglected when Interstates 81 and 690 became the arterial connections for the community.
And finally, open spaces, often the result of the passage of time, changes in economic condition, or demographics, and once seen with potential, now lay vacant, became parking lots, or were forgotten. Consequently, today we have neighborhoods and spaces on our arterials which all suffer from the "gap-tooth" syndrome of a city in decline.
Problem Identification
The physical aspects of Syracuse must be looked at in a systemic and integral fashion. This, to date, has not occurred. The current inventory that is being pursued by the City/County Planning Commission as the first step in the comprehensive plan process is an important one. The City must define what infrastructure resources are available and what repair and reconditioning needs exist down to the neighborhood block level.
The Department of Public Works, once a model of city management and effectiveness, suffered when roles were combined with the Parks Department. At the same time, the glorious park system in the city suffered because of the lack of focus and oversight.
Objectives
The overall goal is to modernize infrastructure systems where necessary, thus lowering the long-term and short-term maintenance costs. This would also increase their reliability. Additionally, the outcome of any infrastructure analysis and planning must also see potential in what may have previously been ignored.
When we continue to implement the GIS (Geographic Information System) database, and finish the Aerial Photographic Map of the City, we will have tools to provide essential and consistent information to all departments. They will also provide us the ability to see things we may have previously missed. One thing will become evident immediately, and that is that our roadways are our largest architectural feature in Syracuse. More so, we will note that the elevated structures of Interstates 81 and 690 are specifically the largest architectural structure in our community. In ancient Rome and Greece, such large structures (aqueducts) were developed as the cornerstone of imagery for progress. As Mayor, I will develop a partnership with the State and the County and work to secure federal highway funds and county funding as a regional impact area.
Improved service and fiscal discipline and savings should also not be the only goal, nor the only result. Once again, the City, with a strong and solid infrastructure, needs to market these assets to those who would relocate to Syracuse. Our park system, especially the views from the round tops, must once again become the signature of all neighborhoods in the City. The ReLeaf Syracuse program has made great strides to counteract the devastating damage done in the Labor Day storm of 1998. We need to continue and expand this effort to bring our parks back to national prominence.
Methods of Achievement
The course of action to implement the necessary changes and modernization needs to be done at three levels: the neighborhood level, at a citywide level, and at a regional level. The impact of State and County agencies upon the repair, development, and upkeep of the infrastructure adds a level of involvement that must be understood.
The approach that will be taken, and the chief priority for dealing with infrastructure concerns, is the development of Neighborhood-Based Improvement Plans. These plans will be the result of the specific analysis of the neighborhoods, in conjunction with a broader Citywide Capital Improvement Plan. The current Capital Improvement Program deals primarily with the compilation of a wish list that is target-specific, but lacks a plan. The citywide plan will set as goals certain broader developments. These will include:
- Modernization of drainage and sewer systems;
- Conversion of all unimproved streets to improved streets with equitable financing (where neighborhoods wish this to take place);
- Burying of power lines where possible; and
- Stepped-up timetable plan for the capital improvements of our schools.
The modernization of the drainage and sewer systems must include the evaluation of a combined sewer separation system. The City must make sure that any approach that the County will take as part of the Onondaga Lake clean-up is thought out and fits into the broader plan of the City. Sanitary system feeder lines must be a concern as many of these are nearly a century old or older.
The City must reevaluate and improve the Skaneateles Lake water system and the maintenance and use of the City reservoirs. A filtration avoidance strategy must be looked at. The effectiveness of the current program, which costs $1.5 million annually, must be evaluated. The planning process for these changes, the end result of the impact on public space and character, also needs to be addressed. Where possible along our creeks and waterways, as we improve our sewage and drainage systems, we must be progressive and develop the public space for use. The Onondaga Creekwalk is a beginning, but a larger Onondaga Creek park (much like Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.) needs to be thought about, and planned for. The same must be the situation anywhere major work will be undertaken. To modernize the functional part of the infrastructure is one thing, but to accomplish that and improve the surface property as well is the ultimate goal.
From Unimproved Streets to Improved Streets
The development of unimproved streets is only part of the manner in which the Neighborhood Improvement Plans will help the city focus on real improvement of infrastructure. By strategically looking at the neighborhood, and including input and planning from the residents of the neighborhood, the City will get a better idea of how to functionally improve a neighborhood for the residents. A model of this kind of collaboration is what has taken place in the TNT process with the Lincoln Hill Development Plan. Not only is street paving addressed in this venue, but also lighting and sidewalk issues. The City currently replaces light fixtures and poling rather than creating a lighting district, which would serve the community better. At the same time, streets are sometimes improved, or sidewalks added to the detriment of tree growth or green space.
Parks and Bike Paths
Even the parks need to be addressed on a neighborhood level; depending upon the kind of programming, physical changes will be different from park to park. Bike paths, which would be an important asset to neighborhoods, and the City as a whole, need to be planned for and initiated at the neighborhood level.
All of this can be accomplished through a new approach of cooperation, regional sharing and involvement and a redefining of priorities and resource allocation. Through regionalization, the shift of responsibility for Hancock Airport and downtown parking to the County of Onondaga will open up resources that the City can more efficiently apply at the neighborhood level. This close relationship with the County will also reap several rewards. The development of the regional transportation corridors by the County and the State will also be discussed with the City, with appropriate cost-sharing based on regional impacts. County-managed improvements to bridges, roadways and highways can be coordinated with City improvements to the infrastructure and physical structures that support the living City.