Sign this petition to protect Adams Street’s connection to critical medical care and keep Crouse accessible to the patients and communities who depend on it.  

Patients and families depend on being able to reach Crouse Hospital when they need it most. The proposal to permanently close Adams Street would remove an established connection through the hospital district, making reliable access to essential care a concern for the entire community.

Crouse provides some of the region’s most time-sensitive care, including comprehensive stroke treatment, emergency cardiac care, and high-risk maternal and newborn services. Each year, its emergency department treats more than 58,000 patients, the hospital delivers approximately 3,900 babies, and its regional NICU cares for about 1,000 premature and critically ill newborns. When minutes can shape outcomes, dependable access to that care is essential. 

Adams Street helps patients, families, hospital staff, and emergency responders reach Crouse and other nearby medical facilities. Removing this direct connection would mean fewer ways to reach the hospital district. For someone experiencing a stroke, a heart attack, or an obstetric emergency, added delay or uncertainty is more than a traffic inconvenience -- it can be the difference between life and death.  

Permanently closing Adams Street would reduce the primary routes emergency responders use to reach Crouse from approximately three to two, concentrating ambulances and other hospital traffic along fewer streets. First responders rely on having multiple route options as otherwise, a stalled vehicle, construction restriction, or routine congestion could disrupt access to multiple emergency departments at once, with fewer alternative routes available to reach care. 

The Community Grid was designed to improve connections across Syracuse, including access to its hospitals. Its plans specifically anticipated a two-way Adams Street west of State Street to give emergency responders additional routing options. Permanently closing Adams Street would move in the opposite direction, reducing the flexibility that helps keep medical care accessible to all. 

We ask the City of Syracuse and those planning the future of Adams Street to preserve safe, direct, and dependable access to the hospital district. Any decision must account for the loss of an established route and the consequences for patients and emergency responders when the remaining approaches are congested or blocked.