UPDATE 11-15-23 at 3:30 p.m.: Overnight closures on I-81 between Exits 16A and 17 will start at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15, and end at 6 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16. The closure will begin again on 6 p.m. on Thursday until 6 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 17.

More closures will be needed after this. The New York State Department of Transportation said they will be dependent on weather and the work accomplished during these first two scheduled overnight closures.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — For all those that travel on I-81, be prepared for some overnight work in the days to come.

The New York State Department of Transportation is alerting motorists about a traffic pattern change that is related to the I-81 Viaduct Project.

Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 15 through Thursday, Nov. 16., I-81 northbound, between exits 16A and 17, will be closed overnights from 6:00 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Southbound lanes on I-81 between the same exits will be closed overnights only from 7:30 p.m. through 6 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, and Friday, Nov. 17, and reopening the early morning of Saturday, Nov. 18.

“The closures are necessary to facilitate the removal of steel bridge beams for the demolition of the I-481 southbound ramp bridge to I-81 southbound that crosses I-81 in the City of Syracuse,” stated the Department of Transportation (DOT).

The DOT will place signed detours directing traffic traveling northbound on I-81 to exit 16A (I-481 North), to exit 1 (Brighton Ave Rock Cut Rd), to west on Rock Cut Road, to north on Brighton Avenue, to I-81 northbound.

Southbound I-81 traffic will be directed to exit 17 (South Salina Street and Brighton Avenue), to south on Route 11, to I-81 southbound.

The DOT asks all drivers during this time to use caution when traveling through the work zone area and to pay attention to all traffic control devices, including signs and flaggers.

If motorists speed in a work zone they will be fined double. In accordance with the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005, convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver’s license.

For up-to-date information, call 511, or visit 511.