Build a Better Bridge: Why the Hudson Valley Wants Transit on the Tappan Zee
New York State is on the verge of one of the largest transportation projects in the nation - the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Hudson Valley residents, business owners, elected officials and environmental advocates participated in the State DOT’s ten-year, 280 meeting planning process. Through these meetings and millions of dollars of State studies, a consensus emerged that transit was a vital component of the Tappan Zee Bridge project.
According to the State’s own documents “Without major transit investments, already unacceptable levels of congestion are forecasted to occur in the corridor far into the future.”
In the fall of 2011 Governor Cuomo reversed course, deciding that the bridge project would move forward without transit. The State now proposes to build a $5 billion bridge that is twice as wide as the current bridge and provides no relief to the increasing traffic congestion that threatens to constrain the region’s growth and diminish quality of life in the villages and towns along the I-287 corridor.
Local leaders are joined by over 20 environmental, good government and labor groups in calling on Governor Cuomo to put transit back into the Tappan Zee Bridge project. This video shows how they are fighting for this once in a lifetime opportunity to relieve congestion in the I-287 corridor and local roads, improve air quality, achieve sustainability goals, and reduce motorist travel time.
The state is accepting public comment on its Tappan Zee DEIS until March 15th. You can find more information on upcoming public hearings on this project and to tell the Governor to put transit back into the project at www.brtonthebridge.org.
