Since the state”™s announcement of a timeline for progress on the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 corridor project, advocates of a new bridge and transit system say they are pleased and expect action.
The state Department of Transportation said on Jan. 17 that additional public information meetings about the environmental impact would be conducted next month and the preferred transit mode or modes would be announced in May.
Design alternatives and alignments will be narrowed and put out for additional public review and comment during the summer. That process will be reflected in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) to be published in the summer of 2009, followed by public hearings in the fall.
The state is exploring several transit options for the corridor, including bus, light rail or a multi-modal mass-transit system.
“We have always (had) the same recommendation, we would like to see a new bridge, and we have always advocated for commuter rail that brings the work force to the west bank of the Hudson,” said Al Samuels, president of the Rockland Business Association and member of the Westchester-Rockland Tappan Zee Futures Task Force.
Samuels said Rockland needs to be able to tap into the New York City work force, by having trains leaving Grand Central Station bound for Rockland.
“Westchester has three train lines (running to and from Grand Central), and that”™s one of the major reasons it has grown as a corporate venue,” Samuels said.
He said he believes the process will run efficiently now that the state has set a timeline, but he disagrees with those who say the state has dragged its feet up to this point making a decision on the bridge.
“The delay of the past year was brought about by groups and individuals refusing to accept decisions (about the future of the corridor) that were made up to that point,” he said. “In order to accommodate these groups and have a transparent process, the state lengthened the process. We can”™t damn the study team for taking longer than originally stated.”
The schedule calls for a final EIS to be published in early 2010 after public comments are reviewed. That document will provide differing levels of analysis of the project plans, a concept the federal environmental review process calls “tiering.”
That is important because the tiering method will allow for maximum access to federal dollars, which are necessary to build the project, said Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester and co-chairwoman of the task force. Depending on which option is selected, estimates range from $12 billion to $15 billion to complete the project, the state said last year.
“We appreciate the fact that this has reached the highest level of state government and are encouraged that the final alternative will be announced in May,” she said.
Gordon said the Business Council advocates for a new bridge and mass-transit system, including rail lines.
“We need to ensure that east-west mobility is an integral part of the overall solution and vision for the next 100 years,” she said.
Skip Carrier, a spokesman for the DOT, said several public hearings and stakeholder group meetings are scheduled for the next few months.
“We will provide time to allow communities that are going to be affected by this project to weigh in,” he said.
He said the DOT has no preference for a particular option of the ones being discussed. “We are still considering everything.”
Plans for the highway and bridge improvements will be fully developed in the final EIS, he said.
The project schedule anticipates federal decisions on the initial EIS in April 2010, including formal “records of decision” on the preliminary transit analysis and the complete highway and bridge analysis. The second EIS developing mass-transit specifics is scheduled to begin as soon as the decision on the first is received.
