News from New York State Department of Transportation

For more information contact: Charles Carrier, 518-457-6400

New Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project Office Opens

Community Outreach Center and Project Offices Are Open Weekdays for Public Visits

ALBANY, NY (11/02/2007; 1205)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Astrid C. Glynn and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North Railroad President Peter Cannito today announced the opening of a new project office and community outreach center at 660 White Plains Road in Tarrytown to enhance public participation in the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Environmental Review. NYSDOT is the lead agency in the management of the study, in coordination with Metro-North and the State Thruway Authority and in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.

“The Tappan Zee Bridge and I-287 corridor are critically important to the mobility and economy of the lower Hudson Valley. Active community involvement is essential to arriving at the best solutions for meeting growing transportation demands in this region,” Commissioner Glynn said. “We look forward to our continuing collaboration with local community leaders and residents, and we encourage all to visit our new office.”

Metro-North President Cannito said, "The outcome of this environmental review will affect the region for generations to come. It is essential that the public participate in the process and this new office should facilitate that."

The establishment of the new outreach office emphasizes the central role public involvement plays in the environmental review, as well as NYSDOT’s commitment to keeping the project moving forward.

“By having staff in the community, we are reinforcing our commitment to maintaining transparency and keeping the doors open to productive communication and coordination,” Commissioner Glynn said.

The office, which will be open to the public Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will serve as a meeting site and a place to ask questions of project staff, make comments on the project, and review and obtain project documents. The office is on a bus route, has parking and is accessible to persons with disabilities. The public does not need an appointment to visit or obtain project information. The office telephone number is (914) 358-0603.

The new office replaces and improves upon the Westchester Outreach Center, which had been located in the Thruway maintenance facility at 333 South Broadway in Tarrytown. The Nyack Community Outreach Center, located at 203 Main Street in Nyack, will remain open during its usual hours, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

NYSDOT and its partner agencies are looking at regional transportation alternatives within the 30-mile I-287 corridor between Suffern and Port Chester. The agencies are studying how best to address the immediate needs of one of the corridor's most important infrastructure elements -- the Tappan Zee Bridge – and associated regional congestion and mobility opportunities.

The three-mile long, seven-lane Tappan Zee Bridge carries the New York State Thruway across the Hudson River, making it a vital transportation link in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region. The corridor serves as a major commuter route between Orange and Rockland counties on the west and Westchester County and southeastern Connecticut on the east. Six alternatives for the corridor are being studied as part of the development of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, including no-build and bridge rehabilitation alternatives, as well as bridge replacement scenarios that would add a transit component to the corridor. Commuter rail transit, bus rapid transit, and light rail transit systems are under consideration.

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