8 dec. 8, 2016
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state
‘I Love NY’ signs illegal, federal highway agency says By Baylee Wright staff writer
The bright blue “I Love NY” signs that dot the highways and byways of New Yor state, advertising attractions throughout the state, were recently deemed illegal by a federal highway agency due to issues dating back five years. The Federal Highway Administration recently called the signs distracting. The FHWA has had issues with the signs since from page 1
syverud Some major donors were disappointed by the university and “a good number of those came back into the fold with Kent as chancellor,” said Jeff Kaplan, a former senior adviser to Syverud who retired last year. The Chancellor Search Committee foresaw his advanced role as a fundraiser. Fundraising experience was something discussed within the committee, members said, and the question was posed to Syverud in an interview. Syverud told the committee that he likes fundraising and is good at it, said Deborah Pellow, a member of the committee. Syverud is a former law school dean at Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis. Pellow, a professor of anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, added that Syverud had taken the time to research members of the committee, which she assessed as a good trait for his fundraising skills. “We were looking at fundraising. We were looking at plans for the university in terms of academics and in terms of preparing students for professional opportunities. Fundraising was just one of the aspects that came into play when we were considering Chancellor Syverud,” another member of the search committee said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they felt they weren’t authorized to speak on the subject. The first couple years of a chancellor’s tenure are important to get acclimated with
2011 said Neil Gaffney, a public affairs official for the FHWA, in an email. The signs inform drivers of rest areas and local attractions along the road. The FHWA announced the ban at the end of last month. “We have been clear with the New York state Department of Transportation that its tourism-related signs are out of compliance with Federal law and create a safety concern,” Gaffney said. “The signs do not conform to the federal standards outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.”
The federal standards are designed to help drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists move safely with minimal distraction, Gaffney said. According to the NYSDOT website, the “I Love NY” sign program is designed to “assist the traveling public, while maintaining the safe and efficient flow of traffic on the State’s highway.” The NYSDOT could not be reached for comment. The NYSDOT will most likely face penal-
ties if it continues to put the signs up despite the FWHA’s warnings, Gaffney said. The penalties could include the withholding of federal approval for different projects or the withholding of highway funding, he said. Gaffney added that Greg Nadeau, FHWA administrator, will meet with NYSDOT Commissioner Matt Driscoll this month in Washington, D.C., to discuss plans to bring the state in to comply with the standard.
a university, rather than do significant fundraising, officials said. “You need the first year or two at a school to really get to know the school and the internal operations. I know he was involved (in my year and a half) in fundraising, but it was not to the extent that it needs to be or should be after somebody has their orientation phase is complete,” said Kaplan, the former senior adviser. The first few years are usually spent developing relationships with potential donors, said Linda Durant, the Senior Vice President for University Advancement at Widener University and a former chair with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Into about the third year of a tenure, though, is where chancellors are expected to do more fundraising. “When it comes down to it, donors want the president. That’s who they want in the room and that’s who they expect,” Durant said. Members of the Board of Trustees and administrators close to Syverud praised his fundraising ability. “He goes out of his way to make you feel welcomed and that’s not something a lot of presidents do, and it makes people want to continue giving to the university,” a member of the Board of Trustees said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because trustees are not authorized to speak to the press about university initiatives. “He was universally praised by the alumni board, they said they hadn’t been given legitimacy until he got here.” A draft of the Campus Framework, the
Fast Forward component most in need of outside funding, was released in June. Only a few of the major aspects of the plan have seen some form of implementation, with a new draft due out in January. As the university is moving into the implementation stage for the Framework, however, it’s doing so with the issuance of bonds to fund infrastructure projects as the majority of its outstanding long-term debt as of June 30, 2015, a year before the initial Framework draft was released, according to an internal 2015 financial report. There has been some progress in securing donations for the Framework. The university announced in early October a $1 million naming donation for the University
Place promenade, the first completed major Framework project, to be called The Einhorn Family Walk. Other projects, including “The Arch” and the National Veterans Resource Complex, have received outside funding, but much is left to raise. SU has plans to put more than $200 million in upgrades into the Carrier Dome, but final renovation decisions are dependent on the financing as well, Syverud said. “The Framework is a vision for what we would do and would like to do to have the campus work well and consistent with our academic plan,” Syverud said. “How we get the funding is partly a function of coming up with a vision that inspires donors and others to fund it.”
bawri100@syr.edu
jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306
CLOSER LOOK The different amounts of money associated with Syracuse University’s Fast Forward initiative
$500 MILLION
$3.75 BILLION
Amount Chancellor Kent Syverud’s efforts in fundraising have secured in state money for different initiatives in central New York.
Fundraising goal for a recent Northwestern University fundraiser spearheaded by Matt Ter Molen, who Syverud has hired as SU’s chief advancement officer.
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i-81
between Colvin and Spencer streets. The new viaduct, according to the NYSDOT, would include four 12-foot travel lanes and 10-foot-wide shoulders. Some curves would also be straightened out. Almond Street would be reconstructed and amenities to the street would be explored. If the community grid is pursued, the existing viaduct will be demolished and traffic will be rerouted around the city on Interstate 481, which would become I-81. Almond Street would become a surface street. Cilento said he has “been getting a sentiment that it’s about a 50-50 split” among members of the public who have come to community meetings and are considering the two options. “Some of them say keep the existing viaduct, because it generally works and ... if we go changing the traffic patterns, you don’t know ultimately where all the traffic is going to wind up,” he said. “... But then others see the community grid as a way to preserve buildings downtown and a way to disperse traffic in a way that hasn’t been seen in a number of years.” Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud said in an interview with The Daily Orange this fall that his main concern is for the improvement of accessibility to the campus. He said either option could work to accomplish that, “but not if there’s a chokepoint of access at Harrison and (East) Adams streets that is somewhat of a nightmare currently.” Syverud added that, regardless of which option is chosen, he would like to see an enhanced connection among SU’s neighborhood and the downtown neighborhood. “So I can live with either option but I want either one to have elements that improve access
to campus and improve connections,” he said. Included in both of those options is a “missing link” feature of the viaduct project, which consists of connecting I-690 west to I-81 north with a new set of ramps. A resolution was unanimously approved at Monday’s Common Council meeting calling on New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo to direct the NYSDOT to rethink that part of the plan. Councilor Joseph Nicoletti said the missing link feature has the potential to serve as a divider on the north side and Councilor Joseph Carni said it could potentially “destroy everything that’s been done” to improve that area of the city. “I truly hope that the DOT comes back, looks at this and presents us with options without (the missing link),” Carni said at the meeting. Gary Holmes, director of the communications office for the NYSDOT, said in a statement that the NYSDOT is “committed to analyze” the missing link feature moving forward. “While that analysis will not be included as part of the draft environmental impact statement, there will be open dialogue … on the transportation solutions in the area before the final version of the environmental impact statement,” he said. After the draft environmental impact statement is made available in January, there will be follow-up public hearings that will give community members additional opportunities to submit feedback. Based on that feedback and further analysis of the social, environmental and economic impacts of the options, a decision will be made by the NYSDOT, Cilento said. “Sometime after that, when money becomes available, construction will begin,” he added. mdburk01@syr.edu | @michaelburke47