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[QUOTE="Fly Rodder, post: 2446022, member: 2133"]
Where did I post $4B more?
"$4.5 billion and take 10 years to complete.  Rebuilding the viaduct would cost an estimated $1.7 billion"

$4.5- $1.7 = $2.8, add a 20% cost overrun for a 10 year construction job and now you're looking at [B]$3.35B[/B]. This isn't a difference of a few hundred million here.  That is a huge outlay.  And frankly the negative economic consequences to a mall, that everyone drives to anyway, are way overblown.  Destiny won't go poof if there is no southern expressway through the city.  I'm not dismissive of retail as a job, but the outlook isn't good and investing an [B]enormous[/B] sum of money into a dying industry isn't a good move, especially when that a smaller portion of that money can benefit a much more stable and long term industry in Syracuse that can't up and move (i.e., medical and education).

If there are other reasons to a build a tunnel, I'm all ears (er, eyes), but so far, it's 1) Congel's Mall may suffer some unknown decline (which would be tremendously difficult to tease out amidst a general decline in retail); and 2) southern suburban commuters would have an additional few minutes tacked onto their commutes.

I have a huge difficulty in trying to understand why fiscal conservatives would see any value in this boondoggle when all engineers and transportation professionals think it is not the best alternative.
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