Brother James Liguori, president of Iona College in New Rochelle, said it best: “It is not a matter of money but a matter of priorities.”
He was referring to the perpetual wailing about lack of money to fix basic infrastructure in the U.S. In spite of the fact that we are approaching the level of decay normally associated with third-world countries (think East Germany before the wall came down) there seems to be no powerful voice to wake up those with the power to rescue the region from a potentially very dismal future.
With the Lake Champlain Bridge closed and now destroyed, attendees at a recent conference on transportation infrastructure at Iona College began to wonder which bridge might be next. The state of the Tappan Zee came into the discussion numerous times with a video imagining the unthinkable ”“ the sinking of the bridge. As the video explained, you can replace the deck on the entire bridge but its does nothing to bolster what”™s underneath.
Most of the speakers, however, merely underlined the dire nature of the nation”™s transportation infrastructure with the Tappan Zee the prime model for what is wrong. And the perfect model it is.
In 1998, a Vollmer Study paid for by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority determined that an east/west rail linking the five existing rail lines in a regional rail network and running over a new Tappan Zee Bridge was the answer to the growing mobility issues in the region. The traffic volume going east/west had already been confirmed by a $180 million project at Interchange 8 in Westchester. The dominant direction of the traffic on the Cross Westchester Expressway (I-287) was changed from favoring traffic going to New York City to one that favored east/west travel. Nonetheless, soon after the study on the I-287 corridor and the Tappan Zee began in 2001, the east/west rail was bent around to favor rail travel from Rockland to New York City, this in spite of the fact that regional commuters are now far more likely to travel across the counties.
When those commuters arrive in Westchester they will be unable to connect to any other mass transit except slow buses. This scenario illustrates the dilemma that was not addressed at the conference ”“ the control of the authorities when it comes to transportation infrastructure. The Thruway Authority, in charge of the Tappan Zee, wants to expand road capacity. The MTA is not interested in any rail project that does not terminate in Manhattan. The funding in either of these authorities is not interchangeable.
There is a growing move to expand the rail network in the U.S. even though the funding for such an enterprise is minuscule. Nonetheless, cities are instituting their own taxes designated specifically for building local rail systems.
In New York it is impossible to imagine such innovative thinking. Meanwhile the rest of the world is rapidly overtaking the U.S. Consider Spain. This relatively small country has allocated $90 billion to complete its rail system so that no one is more than 30 minutes away from a rail stop. That is what visionary planning looks like. California, struggling under mountainous debt, is still building a rail from San Francisco to San Diego.
An increased gas tax, the dominant solution for financing transportation according to some panelists, would only go to repair bridges and roads, not to build railroads. The gas tax has been fixed at 18 cents since the early 1990s while inflation since then has nearly wiped out any value. There is also the danger that any increase in income from the gas tax would be siphoned off to reduce the national debt.
With 800 or more authorities in the state, an economy exists out of the public eye and with little supervision, in spite of the claims of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, one of the panelists, who heads the committee in the legislature that oversees the authorities. New York is covered in fiefdoms and paralyzed by turf struggles. It appears that the only way to get the attention of policymakers and elected officials is to have another state bridge closed permanently. Or maybe $10 a gallon for gas could serve the purpose. It is already at that level in Europe. It is definitely on the horizon. The only question is ”“ how far over the horizon?
A phrase that came up several times during the conference seems pertinent ”“ “Planning is always best done in advance!” Regional planning that does not consider New York City the only game in town is way overdue.
Surviving the Future explores a wide range of subjects to assist businesses in adapting to a new energy age. Maureen Morgan, a transit advocate, is on the board of Federated Conservationists of Westchester. Reach her at maureenmorgan10@verizon.net.
