Government and transportation leaders Sept. 26 came out in favor of a new, multibillion-dollar bridge to be built next to the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Rockland and Westchester county executives, the director of the New York state Thruway Authority, Metro-North and New York state Department of Transportation officials all came out in support of replacing the delay-prone span between Rockland and Westchester counties.
“The DOT the Thruway Authority and the MTA Metro-North are announcing our recommendation that the Tappan Zee Bridge be replaced and that bus rapid transit and commuter rail transit be planned and implemented to address future mobility needs in the region,” said Astrid C. Glynn, commissioner of the New York state DOT.
The proposal, as outlined by Glynn, would cost $6.4 billion dollars for new bridge accepting the two new types of transit; another $2.9 billion for the purchase of equipment, new station and highway improvements to accommodate bus rapid transit; and another $6.7 billion dollars for the build out of commuter rail transit in the future.
“We need to continue to be focused and diligent that a separate right-of-way transit system across Westchester County gets the go ahead,” said Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester and head of the Tappan Zee initiative.
Glynn called the bridge a venerable three-mile structure that has served New York State over its 53 year history. But, she said, “It is now time to move ahead and to define the future crossing of the river.”
Both bus rapid transit (BRT) and a rail line are planned. The rail would follow I-287 from Suffern, N.Y., to Port Chester, N.Y.
According to Glynn the project team is still studying whether the rail will be incorporated in the first generation of the bridge or if it will be considered, “the logical next step.”
“The timing of the rail option is something we need to study as we go forward,” said Glynn.
 “The study team has not decided what form the Bus Rapid Transit system will take,” said Gordon. “There will be pressure to find a low-cost solution, like running busses in existing streets. We can’t afford the cheap solution.”
According to Michael Fleischer, executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority, there are currently no plans to increase tolls on the bridge.
The recently caved firm, Merrill Lynch, has served as the selected financial advisor for the bridge initiative. “We look forward to having their assistance in their current form or in a new form,” said Glynn of Merrill”™s involvement.
Glynn said the bridge needs to pass over a series of environmental hurdles, which puts the design of the bridge on course for 2010 and the construction for 2012.
Vanderhoef said that financing and mass transit will be the two segments of the bridge that invite creative approaches.
Glynn said that since the opening of the bridge in 1955 the population of Westchester, RocklandOrange counties has grown by 684,000. She said jobs commuting to New York City are forecasted to grow by 22 percent by 2030. and
Glynn said that there will soon be meetings to take the next step to develop a plan for the bridge.
“There will be many opportunities for advisement and comment,” said Glynn.
“This is only the first step,” said Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. “The devil is always in the details and that”™s what we ought to be looking for. Westchester always wanted to have our three lines to be connected. This must be done.”
“For those who would argue that you could rehabilitate this bridge, you cannot,” said Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef. “It”™s foundationally safe, but it”™s foundationally sub-standard.”
According to Vanderhoef, the actual cost to replacing the existing bridge would be the same as building a new one, with a similar environmental impact and without accomplishing a mass transportation goal.
“The fact is you”™re putting more people on to the bus and eventually on to commuter rail and taking them out of their cars,” said Vanderhoef. “There will literally be tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline saved. Getting folks to use commuter transportation and mass transit in this corridor is really a high goal.”
Vanderhoef said the goal of the new bridge would be removal of cars. He said the region has a third of the financial resources needed to build the new bridge.
“It”™s going to require some good thinking to get this done,” said Vanderhoef. “It should not impede the designing and building of this major bridge. This bridge as it exists cannot stay. Every day, more money is invested in a bridge that can ultimately not be rehabilitated. We have several years before the true big investments have to take place.”
According to Vanderhoef, the investing and financial concerns of the bridge are still two to three years away.
