The group Renew 81 For All filed for an injunction last month against the New York state Department of Transportation to pause the I-81 project, and a judge granted the injunction. This week, the city of Syracuse announced plans to join in the state’s defense.

Onondaga County Legislator Charles Garland said he always expected the city to join the lawsuit.

“The city, they’re the ones that initiated this original plan," he said. "They’re the ones I believe that went to NYSDOT and said this is what we like to do. We’d like to take down I-81. We’d like to take down the viaduct as they said in rethinking I-81 plan, as Stephanie Miner said in 2010, as Gov. Hochul said when she was here at the State Fair, what Mayor Walsh said. We want to take down the viaduct so we can reconnect the hill and downtown.”

Garland said the I-81 project is an environmental concern.

“They’re going to redirect the same overhead traffic, carcinogens, air pollution they say that’s killing us right back into the two main African American Census tracks here on the south side,” Garland said.

Along with the environmental challenges, Garland said people will be displaced.

“Here on the south side, basically, we feel that it stems from a gentrification project, starting from moving everybody out of public housing. They have a plan where they’re going to move four to five thousand families out of Pioneer Homes, Central Village and McKinley Manor,” Garland said.

Garland agrees the I-81 viaduct is old and should come down, but it should not be at the expense of African American communities.

“If they’re going to take it down, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to build something better, improve upon it,” Garland said.

Both parties will be back in court on Monday. The state is asking that part of the injunction be amended so an award for the contract can be given.