From the Westchester market report: Westchester commuters, rejoice! After years of delays, the process of replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge — long a serious bottleneck between Westchester and Rockland counties— is moving along at a steady clip toward its debut in 2018. Decking on one side of the 3.1-mile conduit is virtually complete, and the last of the bridge’s eight 419-foot main span towers topped off in December.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo commemorated the completion of that stage with a press conference held on the new Hudson River crossing, called the New NY Bridge, during which he said the project “sends a powerful message to the world that nothing is too big or too difficult for the Empire State.” The other message is one of relief for drivers who long ago stopped questioning whether there was a traffic jam on the 61-year-old bridge, but only how bad it was. With narrow lanes and no emergency shoulders, the bridge has an accident rate twice as high as the rest of New York State’s 574-mile Thruway system. [more]