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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. Transportation officials need to consider the impact of their proposed Tappan Zee Bridge on Tarrytown while completing a draft environmental impact study, Tarrytown trustees say.
In a letter to Michael Anderson, the project director at the New York State Department of Transportation, Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell addresses a number of trustee concerns about the proposed bridge, including how a new bridge will impact the Quay Condominiums and the lack of a bus rapid-transit system.
The letter serves as the official submission from the Tarrytown Board of Trustees during the project's scoping process. Tarrytown will also be filing forms to declare itself a cooperating authority, which includes them in the process but does not give them authority over it.
Tarrytown officials express their concerns in the letter about the negative impact a new bridge will have on the Quay Condominiums and ask that the environmental review process look at alternatives or specific actions to prevent this.
The new bridge would move 90-feet closer and abut the Quay's property line. Tarrytown argues that this will significantly diminish the value of the property facing the structure and the complex's recreation area.
Village officials also protest the lack of a bus rapid-transit system and proposes an alternative: rehabilitate the current bridge and use it as the southern span for eastbound traffic. Tarrytown officials write that the savings derived from this could be used to fund a bus system and look into other corridor improvements that will help reduce congestion.
This alternative would allow for the immediate (or nearly immediate) investment of funds as the rehabilitation work could begin immediately and continue during the construction of the new northern structure, Fixell wrote. The value of proceeding in this fashion in terms of more rapid regional employment/economic benefits as well as an earlier completion date should be evaluated in the review process.
Trustees also ask that transportation officials look at the construction of a bus-train station as part of the toll plaza, saying it would reduce commute times and mitigate issues with bringing buses or future bus rapid-transit vehicles to the Tarrytown Train Station.
Moreover, by providing convenient, pedestrian and drop-off access to residents living in the vicinity of such a transfer station, such a station has the potential to both mitigate a portion of the negative impacts associated with construction of a new and larger bridge on the Quay Condominiums, but also to provide considerable environmental benefits to the larger region by shortening and, in many cases, eliminating, automobile commutes of others headed for the Hudson Line, Fixell wrote.
For more information on the Tappan Zee Bridge project, visit our Tappan Zee Bridge topics page.
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