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Applications for 2025 project installations are due January 15, 2025!

The City of Syracuse’s Community Streets program gives you the opportunity to turn your ideas for street improvements into temporary “pop-up” projects: projects that you design and install with City input and approval. Pop-up projects are typically in place for between one day and six months.

This webpage is here as your resource. Explore the project guidelines and application form, look for inspirations from past studies and other cities’ programs, and find the detailed guides and data you will need to develop a project of your own!

While every project comes with unique challenges and characteristics, all projects must follow the same project timeline and general restrictions. Additionally, all projects will be required to develop a temporary traffic control plan prior to installation.

Project proposals may include one or more elements from the below list. Please review the specific guidelines for each project type as you develop your design:

*Please note, projects should be limited to 1 or 2 nearby locations.

Please review the application questions in the PDF below. Final applications may either be submitted through the online application form, or you may email a completed version of the PDF to contactus@smtcmpo.org.

All projects must take into consideration design standards, traffic volumes, and the space available. Below are links to federal, State, and local resources for your use during the application and design process.

Design Guidelines

Functional Classification and Traffic Volumes

Ongoing Projects

Please complete the Cost Estimate Worksheet below and email it to contactus@smtcmpo.org.

The below design and material guides have been developed for other tactical urbanism projects and may be used as reference to better understand what materials you may be interested in using. Also, for inspiration, please see existing plans from across the City and similar pop-up programs running in other cities across Upstate New York further down this page.

Adapt CNY is working alongside the City of Syracuse and the SMTC to select projects to fund as part of this pilot program. Check out the information sheet below!

While you do not need to complete the documents below in order to submit your project application, all approved projects will need to submit at least one, if not all, of the permits and waivers below depending on the level of need your project calls for. Staff from the City and SMTC will inform you which documents you will need to complete before your project can be installed. Please do not complete any until you are instructed to do so.

In addition to the above documents, project sponsors who intend to activate their project locations through larger-scale events, similar to a block party, must complete additional event forms beyond the Community Streets application. All events are handled through the City of Syracuse Department of Parks and Recreation. Any event permits should only be pursued after the completion of the Community Streets Project, or when instructed to do so by City staff.

The pilot year of the Community Streets Program was first announced at the November 30, 2023 Forum on Active Transportation (FOAT), hosted by the SMTC. On December 19, 2023, SMTC staff, Adapt CNY volunteers, and staff from the City of Syracuse hosted a virtual Q&A session for interested community members and groups to ask questions about the program and discuss specific project ideas. Recordings of both meetings can be found on the SMTC YouTube channel.

Adapt CNY volunteers selected three of the projects submitted to fund and install during the summer of 2024. A brief summary of the 2024 Pilot Year can be found below:

Looking for ideas? Check out some of the many plans that have been developed over the years aimed at improving pedestrian and bicycle connections throughout the City. Please keep in mind that some recommendations within these studies go beyond the size and scope of a Community Streets project.

*Additional SMTC studies can be found on our Publications page.

Syracuse is not alone in its quest to improve streets for all users. Both Rochester and Albany have on-going pop-up programs aimed at demonstrating safer street design in their neighborhoods. Take a look to find inspiration and help you plan your own project!