State Department of Transportation Introduces Mural Design Concepts as Part of the Transformative Interstate 81 Project
Release Date: August 13, 2025
State Department of Transportation Introduces Mural Design Concepts as Part of the Transformative Interstate 81 Project
The City of Syracuse’s Rich History and Vibrant Neighborhoods Helped Inspire Concepts Being Shared for Community Feedback
View the Concepts Here
New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez today unveiled draft design concepts for decorative murals that will adorn retaining walls along Business Loop 81 and surrounding city streets as part of the transformative Interstate 81 Viaduct Project. The design concepts, which highlight the City of Syracuse’s storied history and enduring neighborhoods, can be viewed on the project website. NYSDOT encourages community members to review each one and offer feedback that will help inform the final designs. The aesthetic concepts were developed with characteristics of respective communities at the forefront and are intended to encourage suggestions and collect insights on ways the design proposals can be improved or better reflect the neighborhoods they represent. The $2.25 billion project will feature images on eight bridge abutments and approximately 140 linear feet of retaining walls along Business Loop 81 and surrounding city streets.
“The Interstate 81 Viaduct project is a once-in-a-generation project that is transforming the City of Syracuse and we want to take every opportunity to incorporate the city’s rich history as well as the spirit of the various communities across Syracuse, in different elements of the project we are building,” Commissioner Dominguez said. “The decorative murals will help highlight what’s special about the city and its surrounding communities and I encourage everyone to review the draft concepts and provide feedback so that we can create something that is truly spectacular.”
The I-81 Viaduct Project team has a robust community engagement plan to garner feedback from residents, community groups, and stakeholders regarding the designs, which will be on display at the upcoming contract five open house on Wednesday, August 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central High School, 258 East Adams Street, in Syracuse.
Additionally, the aesthetic treatments will be available at the Great New York State Fair, beginning Wednesday, August 20, through Monday, September 1, at the I-81 Viaduct Project booth inside the Science and Industry Building. Following the conclusion of the fair, NYSDOT will take the mural design concepts on the road, attending community meetings, neighborhood events, festivals and more to ask questions, listen to ideas, address concerns, and to develop designs imagined by the community.
NYSDOT welcomes comments from residents across the City of Syracuse, but specifically from within the neighborhoods where these murals will be incorporated and will likely endure for a few decades.
On Syracuse’s Southside, murals are planned for two retaining walls located south of the Van Buren Street roundabout and a screening wall west of the Van Buren Street roundabout that will shield a shared use path from the adjacent railroad. Design concepts for these areas celebrate the close-knit, working-class community that called the historic 15th Ward home, and the thriving businesses that lined the neighborhood’s streets for decades. The mural concepts also honor the achievements of astronaut Jeanette Jo Epps a Corcoran High School graduate and Le Moyne College alumnus and Grammy-award winning folk musician, Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten, who was named Syracuse’s first Living Treasure in 1983. The designs also feature other notable Southside figures, landmarks and uplifting quotes.
In the Hawley-Green, Near Eastside, and University Hill neighborhoods, design concepts were developed for the abutments on the east and west side of the Crouse Avenue Bridge under Interstate 690. Illustrations for the community to consider were inspired by the multiple means of transportation that kept residents of these communities moving, depict the history of Crouse Avenue, the stoops and storefronts of Hawley-Green and the 15th Ward, the bustling New York Central Railroad hub, and the iconic architecture of University Hill.
Along future Business Loop 81 northbound and southbound, bridge abutments on the Spencer and Bear Street bridges will tell the story of the neighborhoods they connect. Mural design concepts for the Northside community to consider pay homage to the industry that fueled the City of Syracuse’s economic development in the 19th century and helped earn the “Salt City” its nickname, and the Oswego Canal, which helped support the boom by linking the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. The concepts also celebrate longtime landmarks of the Northside and the rich diversity of this multicultural community.
Aesthetics on the Court Street Bridge abutments will feature designs concepts created in collaboration with representatives from the Onondaga Nation. One mural, illustrates the Great Law of Peace, the constitution that established a democratic society for the Haudenosaunee people. A second mural celebrates the natural beauty of the landscape near Onondaga Lake and honors the Haudenosaunee clans and the symbolism of various animals.
Murals installed along Business Loop 81 northbound and southbound will be made of a durable polycarbonate, overlayed on concrete. Final designs for the Northside bridge abutments will range in size, from six to 20 feet in height (based on the slope of the wall) and 50 to 200 feet in length. Images affixed to the Crouse Avenue bridge abutments will also range in size, from 15 to 17 feet in height and 10 feet in length. Murals displayed on retaining walls on the Southside will range from 16 feet to 23 feet in height and 50 feet to 90 feet in length.
Residents who cannot attend a community meeting but would like to provide feedback can visit one of the I-81 Viaduct Project outreach centers at the Hills Building, 217 Montgomery Street in Syracuse or inside Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, at 515 Oakwood Avenue in Syracuse. Additionally, comments can be submitted on the I-81 Viaduct Project website or via the I-81 Connect mobile app.
The I-81 Viaduct Project is part of Governor Hochul's unprecedented commitment to modernize New York State's infrastructure and invest in projects that reconnect communities by promoting equity, connectivity, and multi-modal transportation opportunities for communities across the state. The $34.3 billion, five-year NYSDOT Capital Plan helps fulfill the Governor's vision for a modern transportation system that serves New Yorkers across the State. The project is being funded with a mix of federal and State money.
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