WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE NEWS. June 5, 2008: The Project Director of the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project, charged with the evaluation and recommendation of the best solution to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge, told WPCNR today that a decision on the best transit alternatives to replace the 49 year-old bridge (undergoing repairs as needed) will be delayed “for weeks.”
Mr. Anderson (shown here at a February 2008 meeting, said his people were checking figures going over alternatives and their data and were not as far along as they had hoped in coming to a final recommendation (on transit mode selected for the bridge makeover – commuter rail, bus rapid transit, light rail). He gave no reason for the delay. He said no decision had been made.
Originally in February, Anderson had said a final decision on how to replace the aging bridge with a combination of transit possibilities was going to be made in May.
Details of Implementation Not Considered at this Time
Two weeks ago, Anderson told Don Hughes of the North Broadway Civic Association (who has been following this issue), that reconstructing the current bridge to accommodate commuter rail did not make sense because, Hughes recalls, the bridge foundations would have to be rebuilt, and it would be cost-prohibitive if commuter rail connection with Metro North at Tarrytown was desired.
Hughes also said Mr. Anderson told him that a decision on the bridge transit option combination would be made without considering or worrying about the execution of “the details” (location of stations, I-287 lane construction) of accommodating the transit options (commuter rail, bus rapid transit, or light rail) on the Westchester I-287 corridor.
Anderson, Hughes told WPCNR said those “details” would be worked out once the transit alternatives had been selected. Anderson indicated to Hughes a number of alternatives and combinations of commuter rail, light rail and bus rapid transit had surfaced and, they had decided to make the rapid transit decision first as to what would be accommodated on any new bridge.
Presently no decision on the transit combination has been made, Mr. Anderson told WPCNR today, and he had no timetable as to when a decision would be made.
The Schedule
In February a timeline called for “Announcing Preferred Transit Modes” in May 2008, with “Final Alternatives in Draft Environmental Impact Statement” to be promulgated by the end of June, with an Open House scheduled for June. From what Mr. Anderson said today, the schedule is delayed indefinitely.
In February, documents presented at the series of Scoping Sessions on the Tappan Zee Corridor project indicated a final preferred alternative would be arrived at late 2009.
The identity of the Preferred Alternative was to be announced in May 2009, with Draft Environmental Impact Statement published in June 2009, with hearings on the DEIS extending to 2010. The publishing of the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the “Preferred Alternative” was to happen in February, 2010 with a decision to be made April, 2010.
