LoHud June 27, 2013 Written By Khurrum Saeed
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306270071
About 400 Rockland and Westchester residents have until July 11 to decide whether they want noise barriers on and near the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
Four areas are under consideration for the noise walls, which will range from 10 to 18 feet in height depending on their location, a project official said.
Different neighborhoods are voting on their noise barriers in their area. The vote is legally binding under federal law.
Residents have also been asked to choose a look for the barriers that will help guide the final design.
If approved, the $2 million noise walls would be part of the new $4 billion project to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge and would be added during its five-year construction phase.
Last year, a group of South Nyack residents successfully demanded to be included in the vote since their property — Salisbury Point Cooperative — sits along the Thruway and will be even closer to the new bridge than the existing span.
“They really got smart because of the ruckus that we raised,” Salisbury Point resident John Brown said of the state Thruway Authority.
Brown planned to cast his vote Thursday in favor of adding the extra layer of noise protection and sensed most people in his complex were with him.
Salisbury Point board president Catherine McCue said she was grateful the state reconsidered and involved them in the process, along with dozens of homeowners in South Nyack and Upper Grandview. In all, 268 people in Rockland were sent ballots and 106 in Westchester.
The barriers and their appearance were discussed at a Thursday night meeting at the Best Western hotel in Nyack.
Two meetings held in Westchester earlier this week brought out about 50 residents, some from The Quay and Tappan Landing Road complexes.
In order for the barriers to move ahead, at least 50 percent of the ballot holders must vote, and a simple majority must vote in favor of building them.