TZ Bridge Group Wants Sleepy Hollow's Support

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. – The proposed Tappan Zee Bridge needs some type of mass-transit component, officials from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign recently told the Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees.

The transportation organization is hoping to get the village board to pass a resolution in support of mass-transit and encourage state officials to include it at the onset of construction.

“Let's try to find money to add transit now and make this a bridge that really serves this region,” Associate Director Veronica Vanterpool said.

The villages of Croton and Hastings have already passed supporting resolutions on this issue. Vanterpool said her organization was working with other villages such as Dobbs Ferry and New Rochelle as well individuals such as Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit policy advocacy group based in Manhattan.

Sleepy Hollow trustees did not commit to passing a resolution, although Barbara Carr told officials that the state needed to “think a little bit further and find a way to move people and not just have one person in an automobile.” Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray promised to consider putting forth a resolution.

Vanterpool outlined several of the campaign's concerns about the proposed bridge, including the fact that after more than 10 years and 280 stakeholder meetings, the general consensus was that mass-transit would be included in the new bridge. Although the campaign agrees that a new bridge needs to be built, Vanterpool said the idea of not precluding transit was very different than including it from the beginning. Hastings' village board agreed.

“If not built as part of the current plans for the TZB replacement, public transportation is very unlikely to be added in the future and the state, federal government and local communities, as a practical matter, face a “now or never” decision,” the board's resolution reads. “Failure to build public transportation now when billions of dollars are being dedicated to the TZB replacement would be penny-wise and pound foolish."

He estimated cost of replacing the bridge for motor vehicles only would be $5.2 billion, while adding a BRT system would cost an additional $1 billion.

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