[youtube]http://youtu.be/PLIEw9HZCNk?hd=1[/youtube]
Video by Sinead Deane
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council this morning approved a plan to include the Tappan Zee Bridge project in the region”™s long-term transportation plan, paving the way for the state to apply for federal funding.
A consensus vote from the nine-member committee was required in order for state transportation officials to submit for federal funding for the construction of a new bridge.
The committee includes county executives from Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, and representatives of the New York City departments of City Planning and Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the state Department of Transportation.
The plan received a critical boost last week from County Executives Rob Astorino, Scott Vanderhoef and MaryEllen Oddell of Weststchester, Rockland and Putnam, respectively, when the three announced their intention to vote in favor of the project after previously delaying a vote in order to gather more information from the state.
Their support came after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would form a task force to study mass transit options for the estimated $5.2 billion structure.
The vote proceeded despite opposition from a number of individuals and organizations, including environmental advocate Riverkeeper and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which argued that the vote was being rushed and that more time was needed to determine how the bridge would be financed.
Cuomo is scheduled to speak in Piermont later this afternoon about the project alongside state and local officials.
