Committee reviews 90‑day Comstock Ave road closure request for Syracuse University residence halls

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday heard city staff and Syracuse University project representatives describe a request to authorize a 90‑day administrative closure of Comstock Avenue to allow staging for two new university residence halls and to buy time for staff to finalize fee calculations and public‑safety plans.

City staff representative Eric told the committee the city’s permit and fee schedule was written without anticipating a full, curb‑to‑curb closure of a block for what could be “upwards of 2 years,” and that the DPW commissioner can approve a 90‑day administrative closure but “anything longer than that 90 days does require common council approval.” He said the 90‑day window is intended to give staff time to complete a methodology review and produce a final fee calculation and scope documentation.

Jeremy Thurston, president of Hainer Hoyt Corporation, the general contractor on the two Comstock‑area projects, said crews have begun foundation work and described operational reasons for a full closure: the two high‑rise buildings are being built to the property lines on both sides of the street,…