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Abstract:

Tappan Zee Bridge / I-287 Corridor

Environmental Study

Project Overview

The Tappan Zee Bridge / I-287 Corridor Project is a multimodal, 30-mile corridor project which entails portions of the New York State Thruway / I-87 and I-287 in Rockland and Westchester Counties. This is an extremely vital corridor, located approximately 20 miles north of midtown NYC, carrying 140,000 vehicles across the 3.1 mile bridge every day, with up to 170,000 vehicles on holidays and weekends. Projections of future daily traffic demand exceeds 200,000 vehicles.

The Project involves bridge replacement, new 30 mile-plus corridor-wide Bus Rapid Transit system and 17 mile, two-track extension of Commuter Rail Transit service from the Village of Hillburn in Rockland County to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The current total project estimate is approximately $16 Billion in 2012 dollars. 

Project Team

Project sponsors are New York State Department of Transportation (NYDOT), MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR) and New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Environmental Process

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being performed in accordance with:

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

The New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)

Requirements of Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) Section 6002

Purpose of the project

Preserve the river crossing as a vital link in the regional transportation network

Provide a crossing that has structural integrity, meets current design standards and accommodates transit 

Improve highway safety, mobility and capacity in the corridor

Improve transit mobility and capacity in the corridor

Project Approach 

To expedite project delivery and allow each modal element to advance at its own pace, the environmental analysis for the project has been tiered. Tiering allows advancement of large transportation projects in two phases: The Tier 1 analysis will address broad, overall corridor issues, such as general location, mode, area-wide air quality and land use impacts. The Tier 2 analysis focuses on site-specific designs and impacts, and mitigation measures. The current EIS includes a Tier 1 transit analysis and a Tier 2 bridge / highway analysis. The Tier 2 bridge / highway analysis will include accomodations for future transit, built in the near term. Implementation of transit will require subsequent NEPA actions.