County legislator calls proposed I-81 Harriet Tubman memorial bridge 'disingenuous' - CNYcentral.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The controversy over the future of I-81 is still ongoing, despite the decision to convert the aging viaduct into a "community grid" pattern that would route traffic through city streets.

Onondaga County Legislature candidate Charles Garland, along with family members of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman, proposed construction of the Harriet Tubman Memorial Freedom Bridge as a supplemental part of the plan. The proposal includes a towering seven story suspension bridge along the viaduct route.

"It responds to the concerns of everyone in our community, including local businesses. It will keep thousands of cars off our urban neighborhood streets and reduce air pollution among one of the most vulnerable populations in our city. The symbolic value of the bridge also effectively reconciles our past, present and future while once again serving as a beacon of hope and inspiration," Garland explained at a press conference at Wilson Park in Syracuse on Thursday.

But a similar idea has already been proposed before: the Skybridge.

Garland has supported this, alongside suburban community leaders who are against the community grid proposal.

As soon as Onondaga county Legislator Vernon Williams heard the new name for same idea, he typed a fiery letter in response. He supports the community grid because he says his constituents on Syracuse’s south side support it.

"If Harriet Tubman, you know, God rest her soul was alive today, she would be bamboozled with the...



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