State DOT considers additional exit from I-81 for Micron traffic

CICERO, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The State Department of Transportation is moving to add an exit to I-81 as a new access point to the developing Micron campus in the neighboring Town of Clay.

The interchange is being considered in the area of Sneller Road, just north of Twin Rinks, which is on the eastern edge of where Micron plans to build its $100 billion megafab.

The Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council, a local board charged with considering federally-funded transportation projects, approved $68 million for the additional I-81 interchange.

The federal funds are being directed by the State DOT.

Micron is expected to include traffic projections in its pending Environmental Impact Statement, but transportation planners say an additional I-81 exit is needed even without the project.

The new interchange could alleviate pressure on the currently overwhelmed I-81 exit to Route 31, and offer a detour when DOT engineers improve the existing exit in the future.

The funding approval is a very early step. The traffic pattern changes have not yet been designed or drawn on blueprints.

A spokesperson for the State DOT writes: “The New York State Department of Transportation is in the process of reviewing potential improvements to the Pardee Road area in Onondaga County that would enhance public safety and improve truck accommodations. This review is in the preliminary stages of planning and no timetables for implementation have been established.  Any potential future project that requires changes to the interstate to accommodate traffic volume or pattern changes must be studied in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration under the National Environmental Policy Act.”

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