Tappan Zee Bridge

New York State is on the verge of undertaking one of the largest transportation projects in the nation: the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Over the course of 10 years and 280 public meetings, Hudson Valley residents, business owners, elected officials and environmental advocates built a consensus that transit was a vital component of the Tappan Zee Bridge project.

Time was, the public outreach for the new Tappan Zee Bridge included five different Stakeholders' Advisory Working Groups. Each let interested parties dig deeper into issues like the environmental impact of the bridge or how the new transit service might affect development.

Until last fall, the state's planning for a new Tappan Zee Bridge was a model of public outreach. It included over 280 public meetings and one outreach center open full-time on each side of the bridge.

“Rate shock” was the name given to the electricity industry’s financial crisis in the 1970s and 1980s, when utility company finances buckled under the weight of escalating nuclear power costs. Not only were the costs of the nukes spiraling out of control, but the electricity rate hikes required to pay for them caused energy use to flatten, as customers pinched by the high rates were forced to conserve. Facing higher costs but flat sales, the utilities made up the difference with further rate hikes, until their customers rebelled, the dividends stopped flowing, and utility investors lost billions.

Governor Cuomo, your neighbors have something to tell you.

Support for transit on the new Tappan Zee bridge -- built up over a decade of consensus building and 280 public meetings -- runs deep and broad in the Hudson Valley. Though Governor Andrew Cuomo is already rushing forward with plans to build the bridge without any transit option, 11 local elected officials from both parties and a coalition of 16 environmental, labor, social justice, and transportation organizations have now come together to say that Westchester and Rockland County residents need transit on the Tappan Zee. In a statement released today, the coalition argues that Cuomo can't leave transit to be built later; the Hudson Valley needs transit now.

Despite widespread opposition, Governor Andrew Cuomo is plowing forward with plans to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge without transit. Even so, there's still no plan for how to pay for the bridge. Cuomo has proposed that union pension funds put up some of the money, but there's been no explanation of how those pension funds would be paid back.

After nine years of study and 280 meetings, New York State had reached the conclusion that the replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge needed to include transit: both a Metro-North extension and a new cross-county bus rapid transit system. Up until quite recently, state agencies forcefully argued that only transit could improve mobility between Westchester and Rockland Counties and provide a backbone for sustainable future growth. Residents of both counties agreed and bought into the decision. Transit on the Tappan Zee was popular. It was the plan.

After a public outcry, New York State has restored the extensive library of documents generated by nine years of study and public outreach surrounding the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.