Want to buy a bridge to the future of the Hudson Valley? At current prices, it will cost you $16 billion, but you will have to think “outside the box” on how to procure the money, maybe through leasing. That in effect is the current state of the proposed replacement span for the 50-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge.
In September, state officials unveiled a recommendation calling to replace the busy and increasingly decrepit New York State Thruway span over the Hudson River with a larger, modern bridge that includes bus rapid transit, or BRT from Suffern to Port Chester and a commuter rail link from Suffern to Tarrytown that links the west side of the river with the MTA service to New York.
Preliminary estimates by the state Department of Transportation have put the cost of a new bridge at $16 billion.
“When you have a project the size of the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement, you really do need to think out of the box,” said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, speaking at a Nov. 21 conference examining options for the bridge”™s route and funding and the future of the Interstate 287 corridor. The conference was hosted by Rockland Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell.
DiNapoli said there also might be some economic opportunities connected with the incoming Obama administration. The President-elect has pledged an economic development plan that could create 2.5 million jobs in four years or less. DiNapoli said that, as in 1930s, the federal government might look to fund infrastructure projects to get people back to work, stimulate the economy and address critical national needs.
DiNapoli said the state had been forced to examine various funding options, such as federal help and public-private partnerships, because it is no position to pay for an infrastructure mega-project. Gov. David Paterson recently appointed a panel to study private investment in state assets. Its preliminary report will be released in January; final recommendations will come three months later.
The state would only lease assets, such as the Tappan Zee Bridge, not sell them, DiNapoli said. Investors are more likely to invest in road and bridge projects than other forms of infrastructure because toll roads have a dedicated funding stream that reassures investors the completed project will generate revenue. “There are some possibilities out there that are very, very promising,” DiNapoli said.
But he was at best cautiously optimistic. “We’re in for a very difficult year,” DiNapoli said. “Let us hope it’s only a difficult year, and not two or three or four years.”
The state has recently placed its economic study on the Tappan Zee Bridge project on line, as part of what it calls an extensive community outreach effort to gather input as the project moves forward. The information is at www.tzbsite.com. The financial study can be accessed by clicking on the highlighted area “technical documents.”
