The Cuomo administration backed off of a proposal to nearly triple cash and commuter tolls on the new Tappan Zee Bridge Friday following a week of backlash and a thorough review of the final environmental impact statement for the project.
In a letter addressed to New York State Thruway Authority Chairman Howard Milstein and Executive Director Thomas Madison, Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the projected toll schedule as “too high.”
Cuomo urged the Thruway Authority to find an alternative to the proposed $14 round-trip cash toll and $8.40 commuter fee first revealed by Secretary to the Governor Larry Schwartz at an Aug. 2 public meeting in Rockland County.
“I believe the projected 2017 toll schedule based on the Federal Highway Administration”™s estimate of up to $5.2 billion for the new bridge is too high,” Cuomo wrote. “Over the next five years, we must find alternatives, revenue generators and cost reductions that reduce the potential toll increases.”
Cuomo called on the Thruway Authority to work alongside representatives of his administration to form a task force that would examine ways by which the impact of any toll increases could be reduced.
Among the goals of the task force would be to work with the state”™s congressional delegation to ensure maximum federal support for the project, look into expanded discount programs for Westchester and Rockland residents, and seek financial mechanisms that would lower the cost of credit and borrowing.
Additionally, any increase in tolls, Cuomo wrote, should go “solely to the bridge and regional transportation.”
Milstein and Madison released a joint statement, in which they pledge to work with the governor to reduce the burden of toll hikes once the new bridge is constructed.
“We share the governor”™s goal of keeping tolls on the new bridge as affordable as possible to reduce the economic burden on local residents and all who use the bridge, and ensuring that any toll increases is dedicated to support the new bridge and related transportation infrastructure,” they said in the statement.
Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner, who spoke out vehemently against the proposed increases following the initial disclosure by Schwartz, applauded Cuomo for reversing course.
“I want to express my appreciation to Governor Cuomo for listening to the community,” Feiner said in an email to constituents. “It”™s great to have a governor in office who is trying hard to be responsive to concerns of the electorate.”
Feiner said that he was canceling a previously scheduled Aug. 15 meeting to discuss the proposed hike with town residents.
In the letter, Cuomo commended the Thruway Authority for including in its design plans a provision that the bridge must be capable of handling mass transit, and reiterated that it would cost nearly the same amount to build a new bridge as it would to maintain the current bridge.
The governor also called for the three proposals received by the state last month to be reviewed by a team of architects, historians, international design experts, local officials from Westchester and Rockland, and regular citizens, in conjunction with technical experts working for the Thruway Authority.
