Tappan Zee Bridge

Governor Cuomo's state budget proposal includes hundreds of millions of dollars in discretionary spending for what one administration official has called "transformational projects." It's not clear what the loosely-defined pot of money will be used for, but so far the rhetoric indicates that Cuomo's wide, transit-less, double-span Tappan Zee replacement bridge could be one recipient.

Last night Hudson Valley commuters got their first taste of good news when it comes to building transit across the Tappan Zee Bridge. As reported by the Journal News' Khurram Saeed, the Cuomo administration now says it will allow buses to use the "emergency access" lanes it intends to build on both spans of the new Tappan Zee Bridge, though only during rush hour.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's Tappan Zee Bridge bears all the hallmarks of a Robert Moses project. Cuomo stripped popular transit elements from the original, publicly-conceived plan, leaving only a massive highway. Cuomo has shut down the public outreach process for the bridge entirely. He's even moving to sign the contracts to build the bridge before answering basic questions about its design and funding. (Cuomo's less-than-transparent answer about how the state will pay for the bridge today: "We're working on a number of funding options.")

This item slipped under the radar late Friday afternoon: The New York State Republican Party is calling out Governor Andrew Cuomo for abandoning transit on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

In a major rebuke to the Cuomo administration's plans for a transit-less Tappan Zee Bridge, the federal government rejected New York State's application for a low-interest federal loan yesterday. The loan, which would have been made under the popular TIFIA program, was an important component of Cuomo's plans to finance the new Tappan Zee.

Earlier this week Streetsblog sat down with General Contractors Association Managing Director Denise Richardson for a wide-ranging discussion on the financial state of New York's transportation systems. In the first installment of the interview, we discussed the MTA's capital program, which is moving forward with important repair work but saddling transit riders with huge amounts of debt, and the inability of the federal government to pass a new transportation bill.

Regrettably, this was an April Fool's Day post. It should be noted that Streetsblog's prior April Fool's Day stories have a way of coming true, at least in part.

In its headlong rush to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge, the Cuomo administration still hasn't answered basic questions about why the project won't include transit or how it will be financed.

The New York area's urban planning community issued a striking rebuke to the Cuomo administration over its plans for a new Tappan Zee Bridge last week. In a letter to the state Department of Transportation [PDF], the regional chapter of the American Planning Association, which represents 1,200 professional planners, challenged the Cuomo administration's claims about the project and urged the immediate restoration of transit infrastructure to plans for the bridge.