Press Releases
For Immediate Release: January 17, 2008
Contact: Charles Carrier
New York State Department of Transportation
518-457-6400
STATE CHARTS NEW COURSE FOR TAPPAN ZEE/I-287 CORRIDOR STUDY Streamlined Review and Increased Public Involvement Will Speed Completion
New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid C. Glynn today announced agreement on a new procedural approach to the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project, outlining major changes that will expedite review and implementation of the project and allow significant cost savings as a result. The plan, developed in consultation with Metro North Railroad, the State Thruway Authority, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, calls for splitting the environmental review process into two parts and expanding public outreach efforts in the project’s initial planning phases.
“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. “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 Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Environmental Review is exploring regional transportation alternatives within the 30-mile I-287 corridor between Suffern and Port Chester. The partnering 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.
Specifically, the changes Commissioner Glynn announced call for conducting a two-part environmental review on the project. The initial Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will evaluate plans for improving the I-287 corridor (including the Tappan Zee Bridge) and assess transit options for the corridor, identifying a mass transit mode for the corridor, its general route and its beginning and end points.
The second EIS product will focus on the details of integrating that mass transit mode into the communities it will serve, including route specifics and transit station locations and designs. A final decision on the first EIS document will kick off work on the second.
Sequencing the transit analysis in this manner will allow work on highway and bridge improvements to begin up to five years sooner than it would have with a single EIS document, in the process saving an estimated $500 million or more each year in project costs. The highway and bridge construction (including elements needed to support transit) will be under way while detailed transit plans are being developed through the second EIS. The transit system construction will follow once its details are reviewed and approved.
“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.”
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, which is called for under the National Environmental Policy Act. 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.
Six basic alternatives for the I-287 corridor are being studied as part of the development of a Draft EIS, 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.
“Dividing the environmental review process into two stages will help us make the important decisions we must make in choosing the best options for the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor,” said Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. “This is an enormously important project, and sequencing the transit and mass transportation options will assist in a more thorough, deliberate review and successful completion of the entire project.”
Westchester County Executive Andy Spano said, “The new approach offers the best promise yet for moving this complicated and vital project to decision-making and construction. Our two-county citizen task force has long urged the agencies to quickly and professionally narrow the alternatives. I am pleased to see the state's commitment to ensure that a new transit system will be part of the corridor improvements.”
The new project management plan calls for additional public information meetings about the EIS to be held next month and the preferred transit mode or modes to be announced in May. Design alternatives and alignments will be narrowed and put out for additional public review and comment during the summer of 2008. That process will be reflected in a Draft EIS to be published in the summer of 2009, followed by public hearings in the fall of 2009.
The schedule calls for a Final EIS to be published in early 2010 after public comments are reviewed. That document will provide differing levels of analysis of the project plans, a concept the federal environmental review process calls “tiering.”
In this case, plans for the highway and bridge improvements will be fully developed in the Final EIS. The mass transit analysis will be developed to a preliminary stage, which will be sufficient to design and build “transit ready” highway and bridge improvements but will require further analysis and specification in a second, more detailed transit study and EIS.
The project schedule anticipates federal decisions on the initial EIS in April 2010, including formal Records of Decision on the preliminary transit analysis and the complete highway and bridge analysis. The second EIS developing mass transit specifics is scheduled to begin as soon as the decision on the first is received.
Two visuals outlining the new process are included below:
