page_title: Interstate 81 in New York
section_title: Cortland to Syracuse
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 81 in New York / Route description / Cortland to Syracuse
caption_attribution_description: English: View north along Interstate 81 in southern Cortland County, NY, USA
context_page_description: Interstate 81 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Interstate 40 at Dandridge, Tennessee, to the Thousand Islands International Bridge at Wellesley Island in New York, beyond which the short Ontario Highway 137 links it to Ontario Highway 401. In the U.S. state of New York, I-81 extends 183.62 miles from the Pennsylvania state line southeast of Binghamton to the Canadian border at Wellesley Island northwest of Alexandria Bay. The freeway runs north–south through Central New York, serving the cities of Binghamton, Syracuse, and Watertown. It passes through the Thousand Islands in its final miles and crosses two bridges, both part of the series of bridges known as the Thousand Islands Bridge.
  South of Watertown, I-81 closely parallels U.S. Route 11, the main north–south highway in Central New York prior to the construction of I-81. At Watertown, US 11 turns northeastward to head across New York's North Country while I-81 continues on a generally northward track to the Canadian border. From there, the road continues into the province of Ontario as Highway 137, a short route leading north to the nearby Highway 401.
context_section_description: The rural, northwestward trend ends west of the village of McGraw at a junction with NY 41, the primary east–west (signed north-south) road through the community. NY 41 continues west from the exit for a short distance to meet US 11, and the two routes become concurrent for the next 5 miles (8.0 km). I-81, US 11, and NY 41 all head westward from this point, passing a handful of scattered businesses to reach the eastern edge of the nearby city of Cortland. While US 11 and NY 41 continue directly into the city, I-81 bypasses it to the northeast. As such, it crosses only moderately developed areas on the periphery of Cortland. The road connects to downtown Cortland by way of an exit with NY 13, a north–south route serving most of Central New York. Near the exit, the Tioughnioga River splits into two branches, with NY 13 following the east branch to the northeast and I-81 proceeding westward along the west branch.
  North of downtown Cortland, I-81 makes a 90-degree turn to the north, matching a similar curve in the course of the nearby river. This track brings the freeway to the suburban village of Homer, which I-81 connects to via exit 12. The trumpet interchange feeds into a long east–west ramp linking the highway to the parallel US 11, NY 41 and NY 281, another parallel road farther west. NY 41 leaves US 11 in Homer, and I-81, US 11, and NY 281 proceed slightly northeastward across a low-lying, undeveloped area in an otherwise hilly region of Cortland County. Just south of the Onondaga County line, I-81 directly meets NY 281 as it crosses from the western side of the freeway to the eastern edge. They meet one final time across the county line near the village of Tully, where NY 281 ends as I-81 intersects NY 80 and NY 11A. The west branch of the Tioughnioga River also terminates here, flowing into Tully Lake at the county line.
  The amount of development along the freeway slowly increases as it heads north through the county. In La Fayette, I-81 meets with US 20, one of a handful of east–west roads spanning the width of the state. Continuing on, I-81 and US 11 pass east of the Onondaga Indian Reservation, connecting once again at exit 16 before entering the city of Syracuse. At this point, the forests that had lined both roads give way to the dense residential neighborhoods that comprise the city's southern half. Roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) south of downtown Syracuse, I-81 meets with I-481, an alternate route of I-81 bypassing the city to the east. I-81 itself proceeds due north toward downtown on an embankment, running alongside the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) and passing adjacent to Oakwood Cemetery. The surrounding area transitions from mostly residential to mostly commercial at the north edge of the cemetery, where I-81 passes west of the campuses of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF.
caption: I-81 among the moraines south of Cortland
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