Tappan Zee meetings on tap

The two things that have remained constant with the Tappan Zee Bridge over the past few decades are that it”™s great at bringing traffic to a crawl and good at keeping workers busy maintaining it ”“ $365 million since 2001.

This week, however, the superstructure”™s future will be addressed.

The Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project will hold two open houses in Westchester and Rockland counties to discuss replacement and alternative approaches to bridge mass transit.

The meetings are scheduled to take place from 4 to 8 p.m. June 28 at The Westchester Marriott Hotel”™s Grand Ballroom in Tarrytown and from 4 to 8 p.m. June 30 at the Palisades Center”™s Adler Community Room in West Nyack. The open houses are sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Thruway Authority and Metro-North Railroad.

The current $16 billion proposal is to replace the existing bridge by creating one immediately north of it that would have the capacity for bus rapid transit (BRT). Then the old superstructure would be torn down and a second bridge would be built with commuter train lines.

Among the questions that will be discussed at the open houses are what to do with the buses and trains. The current project proposal is to create commuter rail transit on the second, or southern, bridge that would link Suffern and Irvington”™s Metro-North stop on the Hudson Line at a cost of $8 billion. This would serve some 55,000 riders ”“ none of whom would be in Westchester.

An alternative proposal is to link Suffern with Metro-North”™s Harlem Line stop in White Plains, thus facilitating the commute of Rocklanders to the heart of Westchester and New York City, and Bronxites to Rockland.

This alternative, however, is not without its challenges, including widening a bridge at Scarsdale and securing a right of way through the town. It would also take time to add the necessary seven-mile third track between Crestwood and White Plains.

So the Tappan Zee/I-287 project is proposing instead to slow-track commuter rail construction (except across the bridge) in favor of creating BRT between Suffern and Port Chester at a cost of just under $1 billion. This would serve 108,000 riders and integrate with Westchester”™s Bee-Line service. For BRT to succeed, however, it would need separate lanes or rights of way, particularly in Westchester; set stations, possibly in shopping centers along the east-west axis; limited stops; level boarding; and pre-paid fares.

These are among the concerns the project team will have to address as it continues to refine the draft environmental impact statement.

The Gov. Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge ”“ known colloquially as the Tappan Zee for a local Native American nation and the Dutch word for sea ”“ connects southern New England and western New York and New Jersey at one of the Hudson River”™s widest points, the three-mile expanse between Tarrytown and Nyack. Its use as a locale in literature and as a place for some high-profile suicides has only added to the silvery, spidery cantilever bridge”™s allure.

When the bridge was proposed in 1950 ”“ it would open five years later on Dec. 15 ”“ then Gov. Thomas E. Dewey announced that it would use World War II military technology. Time, however, has eroded its status as a modern wonder. Critics have charged that it was built during the materials shortage of the Korean War and only meant to last 50 years.
In recent times, the bridge has been in a seeming state of nonstop repair. Just last week, the New York State Thruway Authority announced the award of a $148.8 million contract for the next phase of the bridge”™s redecking to Tutor Perini Corp. of Peekskill.

The repairs have turned I-287 westbound into a virtual parking lot around the evening rush hour, particularly on Fridays in summer, engendering changes in work, lifestyle and shopping habits in Westchester.

For directions to the open houses and more technical information, log on to tzbsite.com. If you have special needs or other requirements, call (914) 358-0600 or e-mail tzbsite@dot.state.ny.us.