AASHTO Journal, 5 October 2012
A project to replace the current Tappan Zee Bridge in New York State has taken a large step forward with the completion of the environmental impact review by the federal government, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week.
“In less than one year, the project to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge was expedited by President Obama, public hearings were held, the environmental review process was completed, and now the federal government has approved the plan,” said Cuomo in a statement. “With this major milestone, New York once again is demonstrating that we can make government work efficiently and effectively for the people of the state, and we can take a large step toward building a safer, better, and more reliable bridge.”
The Federal Highway Administration issued a Record of Decision last week approving New York’s plan for the new bridge, finalizing the environmental review. New York State can now proceed to the planning phase of the new bridge.
Cost to rehabilitate the existing bridge through the next 20 years is expected to be around $3 billion to $4 billion. About $750 million has already been spent in the last decade just to maintain the bridge. A new replacement bridge is projected to cost between $5 billion and $6 billion.
“The construction of this new bridge will create thousands of jobs,” said FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez. “When completed, it will make travel safer and more efficient in one of the nation’s busiest areas — setting the stage for economic growth for years to come.”
The original Tappan Zee Bridge opened in 1955 and has since been a major route on the area’s roadway network. The total bridge measures more than 16,000 feet, standing roughly 139 feet over the Hudson River, and was originally designed to carry about 100,000 vehicles per day. Today, the bridge carries about 138,000 vehicles over the Hudson each day, many of which are large trucks conducting intrastate and interstate business. The increased traffic has caused congestion problems on the bridge as well as raised safety concerns, as the accident rate on the bridge is double the average rate on the rest of the NYS Thruway.
Additional information on the Tappan Zee Bridge is available at bit.ly/tappanzee.