Archives for July 2014

T.Z. viewing areas in Nyack, Tarrytown to open this fall

July 29, 2014 by
Khurram Saeed, ksaeed@lohud.com 12:13 a.m. EDT July 29, 2014
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The public will be able to see construction up close and learn all about the mega-project.

The two designated spots from which people can watch the new Tappan Zee Bridge get built are likely to open in October.

The sites will be at parks in Nyack and Tarrytown and feature view finders, seats and detail-rich panels about constructing the world’s widest bridge.

Even though the river villages share a common goal, they are working separately to build their respective viewing areas.

Local officials anticipate the spots will prove to be tourist draws, and entice people to spend money at village shops and restaurants.

Nyack

Rockland’s viewing area is piggybacking on a long-planned conversion of the fishing pier at the southern end of Memorial Park.

The village is planning to hold a groundbreaking during the first week of August, Mayor Jen Laird-White said. It had already secured a $150,000 grant from New York’s state department when Tappan Zee project officials approached it about using the 90-foot long pier as an official vantage point.

Laird-White called it “frosting on the cake” since the village would receive $50,000 to make the pier even more of an attraction.

Village trustees last Thursday awarded a contract for installation of the piles for the pier.

Pile driving is expected to begin in late August followed by decking, Village Administrator Jim Politi said.

“Once you set the pilings, which I’m sure will take a couple of weeks, then building the actual structure is another couple of weeks,” he said.

From that point, Politi said it was just a matter to adding the decorative lighting, fancy wood railings and the bridge-related materials.

The viewing area should be ready in October, he said.

Tarrytown

Village trustees last week authorized a $50,000 contract with the state Thruway Authority to move forward on the viewing area at RiverWalk Park at the end of West Main Street, Village Administrator Mike Blau said. Both Tarrytown and Nyack are receiving funding through a special $20 million community fund set up for the project. The Thruway Authority and bridge builder Tappan Zee Constructors are jointly contributing to it.

Once the village receives the technical specifications from the Thruway’s design consultant, it will put the project out to bid, likely in mid-August.

After the bids are received and one selected, Blau expects work will begin in mid- to late September.

“It shouldn’t take that long to actually do the construction end of this project,” he said, anticipating an early October opening date.

According to project renderings, a tiered timber bench will be added to the existing round deck that’s largely enclosed by a stone wall. A pergola will provide shade for visitors.

Three colorful interpretive panels will offer a bevy of information: from an overview of the construction site to design and features of the $3.9 billion bridge to a project schedule. A “spotter’s guide” for the different types of equipment being used on the river may prove most popular of all.

Besides describing what each vessel does, the guide also offers a factoid about each one. For example, the super crane registered as the Left Coast Lifter is longer than a football field while one floating concrete batch plant can produce enough concrete to fill 100 cement trucks in a single day.

There is no mention of tolls.

Twitter: @ksaeed1

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

NEW NY BRIDGE PROJECT MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

July 18, 2014 by

President Obama and Governor Cuomo

 Visit New NY Bridge Project Site

With the Tappan Zee Bridge and the New NY Bridge project site in the background, President Obama stood by the Hudson River to make a push for funding transportation infrastructure. The Highway Trust Fund is projected to be insolvent by the fall, and the President is calling on Congress to […]

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07-08-2014

The New NY Bridge team is reaching out to New York firms, suppliers and subcontractors – particularly disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) – to aid construction efforts. DBEs are defined by the U.S Department of Transportation as small businesses that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals such as women, minorities, veterans or disabled persons.

 

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07-01-2014 
 

Road work along highways and ramps presents safety challenges to both motorists and construction crews. The New York State Thruway Authority keeps the public informed and up to date on the latest construction activities to help ensure the safety of motorists as well as Thruway and Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) workers.

 

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06-17-2014 
 

Native to the Hudson River and once plentiful here, the shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon were identified as endangered species and fishing of them was halted in 1996. Since then, the sturgeon population has been growing steadily in the Hudson, one of the species’ most important habitats.…»

 

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06-24-2014 
 

The New NY Bridge team is reducing the project’s impact to the environment through the use of construction platforms-known as trestles on either side of the Hudson River. The trestles, which extend 1,000 feet from each shoreline and run parallel to the existing bridge, enable heavy duty machinery to work over shallow water and reduce the […]…»

 

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06-09-2014

The New NY Bridge project is now accepting submissions for its 2014 Bridge Art Show. The juried exhibit is an opportunity for local artists to showcase their interpretations of the new bridge design or the existing Tappan Zee Bridge.The project’s Visual Quality Panel – which includes Rockland and Westchester representatives involved in the arts, architecture, […]

 

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People Behind the New NY Bridge

  

 

Minelly De Coo

Design Production Team Area Manager

Minelly De Coo is an area manager for the design production team, who coordinates efforts between the office and the field. As an environmental specialist, she analyzed sound data and worked with the project’s visual quality panel to help design the project’s noise barriers. Minelly is also involved in the environmental monitoring for the project, overseeing sound monitoring stations and directing crew members in the field. She is notified of any environmental concerns that may arise, and works to see that they are resolved in a timely manner. An invaluable member of the project team, Minelly is proud to see progress on the bridge as it rises out of the Hudson River.  
Frequently Asked Questions 

Q:
A:
The existing bridge has only seven lanes, some of which are narrower than the current standard width of 12 feet. The new bridge will have eight 12-foot-wide lanes. The wide shoulders of the new crossing will greatly reduce the impact of disabled vehicles and accidents, which can cause massive tie-ups on the existing bridge. The incline over the main span will not be as steep, allowing large trucks to maintain consistent speed and reduce engine and braking noise. There will also be gently banked curves to help smooth traffic flow and reduce accidents. The new bridge will also include all-electronic toll collection technology, which allows motorists to pay tolls without slowing down from highway speeds. Motorists without E-ZPass will be automatically billed by mail.
Get Your E-ZPass® “On-the-Go”at the 
View the latest issues of theNew NY Bridge Quarterly Magazine
Visit NewNYBridge.com to subscribe for periodic email updates

 

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tappan Zee Bridge path critic teams with South Nyack

July 5, 2014 by

Khurram Saeed, ksaeed@lohud.com11:20 p.m. EDT July 4, 2014

South Nyack beefs up its TZ Task Force as it tackles surrounding the new crossing’s bike and walking path.

SOUTH NYACK – In March, Greg Toolan stood in front of more than 150 people and said there had to be a better way to link the village with the pedestrian and bicycle path coming with the new Tappan Zee Bridge, offering Interchange 10 on the Thruway as a possible solution.

Following a public outcry, the three members of South Nyack’s bridge task force quickly decided to hit the reset button, asking the Tappan Zee project team to work with them to take another look at where the path would end in the village, where people would park and other local impacts.

The task force also made another move: it added Toolan to its team, along with Nancy Willen, who recently retired from the Clarkstown Highway Department.

Toolan, a land surveyor currently working on the Second Avenue subway project in Manhattan, has remained active since that contentious meeting with village and project officials at Nyack College. In many ways, he represents the other village residents who spoke that night, those skeptical of the state’s intentions and worried about the dangers that drivers in search of parking in neighborhoods would pose to residents.

A resident since 2007, Toolan, his wife and three children live on Cornelison Avenue, not far from the proposed site for the path’s terminus at the corner of his street and South Broadway. That terminus would be directly across from a southbound entrance to the Thruway.

“I’m pretty directly affected by what’s happening with that” path, Toolan said, describing its location “an afterthought” on the state’s part.

Rather than just complain, Toolan has been trying to come up with solutions, as he’s well-versed in blueprints and design technicalities.

Even before joining the task force, he met with project engineers to pitch a plan. It’s a bit complicated but basically allows Interchange 10 to remain a construction staging area for the duration of building, but eliminates the need to circle entirely around the interchange. Instead, he envisions a roundabout near South Franklin Street. He calls for reconnecting Route 9W back to Hillside Avenue to handle two-way traffic and closing off the Thruway entrance on South Broadway, so the ramp can be used for parking.

Though he has no hard cost figures, he admits it would carry “quite a price tag.”

“It’s kind of grandiose, but it all makes sense,” Toolan said. He also belongs to the Tappan Zee Gateway Alliance, a recently formed group concerned about the location of the shared path.

A rendering of Toolan’s proposal will be included in a meeting to update the community of the different ideas. It may take place this month.

Toolan remains a pragmatist though. He said ending the path at Cornelison as originally planned remains “a huge possibility.”

But it won’t be for a lack of effort from him and others in the community.

“I know there’s a lot of animosity you can get wrapped up in, but I would rather get a good solution than focus on what was done in the past,” Toolan said.

Willen, a 10-year resident of South Nyack, acknowledged that while she had to catch up with the rest of the volunteer task force, her experience working as confidential secretary to the highway superintendent for 16 years made her familiar with some of the issues and players involved.

Connie Coker, a member of the village task force, was excited to see what the two newest members would bring to the conversation.

“I think they’re both really going to add a lot,” Coker said.

Twitter: @ksaeed1

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/tappan-zee-bridge/2014/07/02/tappan-zee-path-critic-joins-forces-south-nyack/12062033/

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Tappan Zee project: State troopers set up shop in Rockland

July 5, 2014 by
LoHud; Khurram Saeed, ksaeed@lohud.com11:13 p.m. EDT July 4, 2014

The state police and the Thruway Authority have temporarily shifted their operations due to Tappan Zee Bridge construction. They will be in Rockland until 2018.

WEST NYACK – State troopers and Thruwa maintenance workers will call Rockland home for at least the next four years while the new Tappan Zee Bridge is being built.

State Police Troop T and the state Thruway Authority this week began relocating their operations from  Tarrytown to the former Journal News printing plant at 160 N. Route 303 in West Nyack. The building is near Interchange 12 on the Thruway, across the street from the Palisades Center mall.

Capt. Richard Mazzone, the zone commander, said they are 95 percent moved in.

“Everything that was in Tarrytown is coming over here,” Mazzone told The Journal News. “Obviously, we still have a lot of unpacking to do. But we’re up and running.”

The state police and Thruway facilities at 333 S. Broadway in Tarrytown will be demolished and the land used as a staging area during construction of the $3.9 billion bridge. Part of the property will later be included in the bridge’s alignment.

In 2018, the state police will move back to new barracks in Tarrytown, this time on the south side of the Thruway, near the current site of the Thruway Authority’s toll plaza building.

The authority’s maintenance operations will also return to Westchester, north of the new bridge. They are expected to share space with a parking lot and facilities that will serve users of the bridge’s  3-mile bicycle and pedestrian path that will connect to South Nyack.

The shift to the 42,000-square-foot warehouse had been anticipated for more than a year.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the team designing and building the new bridge, began work to renovate the facility in January. It is contractually obligated to relocate the two agencies and rebuild their facilities when construction is finished.

Back in February, The Journal News reported some of the changes the site would see including doubling on-site parking to 145 spaces from 73 and adding an 8-foot-high fence to serve as a buffer between Thruway parking lots and homes on North Greenbush Road.

Troopers will use the north part of the building and the parking lot toward Route 303. Mazzone said people should continue to call 911 during emergencies and Thruway dispatchers at 800-842-2233 for non-emergency situations.

The Thruway Authority will use the back of the building, and carry out maintenance, welding, rigging and electric work in existing shop space. About 30 Thruway maintenance workers are moving over from Tarrytown to West Nyack, a Tappan Zee project official said.

Tim Donovan, project manager for Hauser Brothers Inc., which owns the building, noted the warehouse had been vacant for years and said the company was excited the space would generate income until at least 2018.

“It’s nice to have it leased and leased for that amount of time,” Donovan said.

Twitter: @ksaeed1

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Tappan Zee could be pathway to tourism in Rockland

July 3, 2014 by

Tourism experts say the new crossing and an enhanced bus system could lure tourists and their money to Rockland but officials need to start planning now.

Khurram Saeed, ksaeed@lohud.com11:25 a.m. EDT July 1, 2014

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SOUTH NYACK – Most of the talk about the Tappan Zee Bridge project so far has been about construction, noise and how the state will pay for the crossing.

But on Monday, the conversation took a new direction: the bridge as a money generator.

“You’re in a good place here right now, particularly with some of the development at the Tappan Zee Bridge and what’s going to happen,” Mary Kay Vrba, tourism director for Dutchess County, told 50 people at “Destination Rockland: Blazing New Trails in Tourism” at Nyack College.

A group of marketing experts, business leaders and elected officials saw visions of cash registers being filled up by tourists walking or bicycling over the bridge’s dedicated path into Rockland County. A revitalized bus system slated to be ready when the $3.9 billion span opens in 2018 could bring more.

Rockland Legislative Chair Alden Wolfe organized the three-hour conference, stating that it marked the “launching point” for further discussion.

Vrba drew parallels between the upcoming Tappan Zee path and the Walkway Over the Hudson, a 1.2-mile-long pedestrian walkway connecting Highland and Poughkeepsie that draws 700,000 visitors a year. Rockland has most of the ingredients to became a destination with its access to the Hudson River, a bevy of hiking trails and parks, and quaint river villages filled with stores and restaurants.

Downtown Poughkeepsie, on the other hand, lacks popular tourist draws like art galleries, she said.

“They walk the bridge and they say, ‘What next?’ ” Vrba said. “So you’ve got the what next, I think, with Nyack and Piermont and a lot of the shops and everything. You’ve got a product that you can work with. I think you have some real opportunities.”

Officials have the luxury of time to take a look at their towns and villages, address their needs and invest in a tourism plan, she said.

South Nyack and Tappan Zee project officials are still struggling to figure out where people who want to use the path will park in the village. The project team is expected to hold a meeting soon with several concepts proposed by the community, Mayor Bonnie Christian said.

Asked how they addressed parking for the Walkway Over the Hudson, Vrba said the land on both sides was municipally owned and purchased by the state parks department so they could be converted into paid lots. They also had the benefit in Poughkeepsie of parking garages six blocks away.

Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign and a member of the task force that recently came up with transit recommendations for the bridge, said it was seeking a “transformation” of the existing Tappan ZEExpress service to entice more riders. There would be modern buses, traveling more frequently, utilizing technology like off-board fare collection, but some have said the plan didn’t work.

The system, known as bus rapid transit, is still in the conceptual stage. There are no cost estimates, and only $20 million in state seed money to date.

Twitter: @ksaeed1

Filed Under: Governor Cuomo, Tappan Zee Bridge Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

World War II Destroyer makes it’s way up the Hudson River

July 2, 2014 by

http://www.lohud.com/picture-gallery/news/2014/06/30/world-war-ii-destroyer-makes-its-way-up-the-hudson-river/11787659/

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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