Officials have announced that a plan for the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge will be in place by May. State Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn also said the environmental review for the bridge and adjoining I-287 corridor will be split in two; one review will continue for the evaluation of plans to improve the thruway corridor, identifying the best choice for a mass transit route and making a final plan for the. The other review will look at integrating the chosen mass transit option into the communities in the region, including route specifics and transit station locations and designs. A final decision on the first EIS document will kick off work on the second, Glynn said.

She said she expected this would speed up the process by up to five years and save taxpayers $500 million each year in project costs compared to the original process. Options for the 52-year-old bridge and corridor range from simply reconstructing the current bridge and doing nothing else to building a new bridge adjacent to the standing one, complete with commuter rail links from Portchester up to Stewart Airport in Newburgh. The three agencies involved in the project - Thruway Authority, Metro-North Railroad and the Federal Highway Administration - have all signed off on the new plan. “At Governor Spitzer’s direction, we’ve conducted an extensive review of where we’ve been and where we need to go on the I-287 corridor project in order to improve the project’s outcome and speed its progress,” Commissioner Glynn said in her official statement. “Splitting the project review into distinct parts will enable us to better focus our efforts. Continuing to expand community involvement and stakeholder outreach early on will allow the project to proceed quickly in its later stages.”

“The Thruway Authority is pleased to have participated in this effort led by NYSDOT to streamline project schedules while improving outreach efforts for this vital multi-modal Corridor project,” Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael R. Fleischer said. “NYSDOT’s revised process will enable the agencies to work more closely with the stakeholders to ensure that the project continues to move forward and ultimately accommodates the most suitable multi-modal transportation solutions for the Corridor. As this process moves forward, the Authority will continue to fulfill its responsibility to maintain and operate the Tappan Zee Bridge by continuing to make the necessary investments to assure safe and efficient travel for the millions of motorists that use the Bridge annually.”

Peter A. Cannito, president of Metro-North Railroad, said, “The goal of this project has always been to expedite renewal or replacement of the river crossing while incorporating a regionally-beneficial public transportation component in the corridor. This new phased approach will help us accomplish that goal.”

An attorney for the non-profit advocacy group Tri-State Transportation Campaign told the Hudson Valley Business Journal he was afraid that by splitting the process into two, it would open the door for removal mass transit from the proposal due to cost concerns. “Our fear is that by splitting up the environmental review and pushing the transit review into what would be a separate process, this puts the mass transit option in a perilous position where it could fall by the wayside. It’s simply a function of by having split off the details of the transit. There’s no guarantee it will be part of the finished project,” attorney Kyle Wiswall said. Manager of the Tappan Zee Bridge-I-287 project Michael Anderson disagreed with Wiswall’s conclusion. “These process changes guarantee that transit will be part of the multi-modal solution,” Anderson told The Rockland Journal News. Anderson could not be reached for a comment by the Hudson Valley Business Journal.

Wiswall’s group is advocating for a Bus Rapid Transit system. The purpose of their advocacy efforts he said is to “hopefully help change the development in the region from car-centered sprawl to a town-centered density.” Rockland Business Association President and CEO Al Samuels is a member of the Tappan Zee/I-287 taskforce. He has long been advocating for a commuter rail link between Westchester and Rockland, ultimately connecting to Stewart Airport in Newburgh. He believes that such a rail link is vital not only for helping Rockland commuters travel to work in New York City and Westchester but for helping workforce travel into Rockland County. He said the project was behind schedule because some groups had applied pressure.

“The truth is regulation requires an extremely lengthy process and in the past two years people became aware of the fact that [a new bridge] was going to happen. There are a lot of people who don’t want it, so they reintroduced their contributions. There are public officials and people in the communities who don’t want to see this advance. I believe that that won’t happen anymore. I believe from now on whatever deadlines they indicated, will be met. We’ll know by May,” Samuels said.

According to Astrid Glynn’s press release the project process changes, suggested in part by new federal provisions governing environmental reviews for significant transportation projects, require reissuance of a “Notice of Intent.” The notice formally describes the project, possible alternatives, the review process and opportunities for public comment.

“The Notice of Intent also will outline the new project review process, which will build upon the extensive alternatives analysis, environmental and technical studies and public comments and outreach that already have occurred. It also will incorporate new provisions allowed under SAFETEA-LU, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, federal transportation legislation enacted in 2005. Among other things, that law calls for robust public and resource agency involvement in environmental reviews, which is intended to streamline the process and strengthen the efficient management of transportation projects,” Glynn’s release said.

Glynn said following the announcement of the preferred alternative in May, specific “alternatives and alignments” will be made available for public comment in the Summer of 2008. The “Draft EIS” will be published in the summer of 2009, followed by public hearings. The “Final EIS” is planned to be published in early 2010, followed by more public comments, and then the beginning of construction on the project. Funding for the project has yet to be secured.