News from New York State Department of Transportation

For more information contact: Jennifer Post, 518-457-6400

Tappan Zee Bridge Update Packet Released To Public Today

Information Detailed about Environmental Review, Project Options & Criteria for Transit

ALBANY, NY (02/12/2008; 1105)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Astrid C. Glynn today announced that the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Study Update Packet has been released to the public. The document is available for review on the study’s website, www.tzbsite.com, and at NYSDOT’s community project offices in Tarrytown and Nyack. Copies also may be requested by telephone or mail.

NYSDOT is the lead agency managing the corridor study, in coordination with MTA Metro-North Railroad and the State Thruway Authority and in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. The agencies are inviting the public to comment on the project and contents of the Update Packet, which includes the purpose and need of the project, the range of alternatives and the coordination plan.

Public meetings will be held on February 26, 27 and 28, 2008 in Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties, respectively. The meetings are intended to be formal forums for sharing project-related information and obtaining public comments. As part of the scoping process, oral and written comments will be accepted until March 31, 2008.

“This is a significant document that provides a wealth of information on the project, and serves as a useful tool for understanding the comprehensive environmental review that the project is undergoing,” said Commissioner Glynn. “We strongly encourage everyone interested in the Tappan Zee corridor to take advantage of this important resource.”

The Update outlines the upcoming process for the project, the next steps that will shape project decision making and the environmental review. The process provides an opportunity for additional public comment on the range of project options and issues to be considered during the environmental review. It outlines a revised environmental review process and schedule and presents a description of the alternatives under consideration in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), including new options to the bridge replacement and rehabilitation alternatives. In addition, the Update presents the final screening criteria for evaluating transit and river crossing alternatives. To request a copy of the Scoping Update Packet, please visit www.tzbsite.com. You may also request a copy by calling 914-358-0600 or by writing to Michael Anderson, Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Environmental Review Community Office, 660 White Plains Road, Suite 340, Tarrytown, New York, 10591. Copies of the document will be available for review at the community office in Tarrytown and at the Community Outreach Center in Nyack, at 203 Main Street, telephone number: (845) 348-7714.

The Scoping Update Meetings will be held at the following times and locations:

• Westchester County - Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 4 to 9 p.m.

The Performing Arts Center

Purchase College

State University of New York

735 Anderson Hill Road

Purchase, NY

• Orange County - Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 4 to 9 p.m.

Orange-Ulster BOCES

Emanuel Axelrod Special Education Center

53 Gibson Road

Goshen, NY

• Rockland County - Thursday, February 28, 2008, 4 to 9 p.m.

Palisades Center

Adler and Raso Rooms

1000 Palisades Center Drive

West Nyack, NY

The project study team will make formal presentations at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. each evening, and the public will have opportunities at these meetings to make verbal comments or submit them in writing. The sessions give the public another chance to comment on the project alternatives and potential issues to be evaluated during the environmental review.

There also will be an open house at each of the events from 4 to 9 p.m., where community members will be able to review study-related materials, including maps, drawings and an information packet on the planned scope of the project. Project team members also will be on hand to answer questions.

Attendees requiring special accommodations (e.g., those with disabilities, language barriers or who have impairments to effective participation) are asked to contact the project office at 914-358-0600 to make special arrangements.

-30-