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NYC4Life

Sep 22, 2011 8:19 PM

UPDATED 2:59 PM
Second Avenue Subway Reaches "Boring" Milestone
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...ing--milestone

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6476/unledwh.jpg

Quote:

The Second Avenue subway is on track as it reached a new construction milestone Thursday.
The 485-ton tunnel boring machine completed its second pass from 92nd Street and Second Avenue, breaking through into an existing tunnel at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station.

It completes more than two miles of tunnels that will provide Q train service from 96th to 63rd Streets.

The long delayed project will alleviate overcrowding and delays on the 4, 5 and 6 lines.

Some East Side residents are worried about the effects the construction could have on air quality in the area.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it's doing what it can to curb those concerns.

"We've taken great steps in terms of building enclosures to try to be able to deal with noise and air quality, we'll continue to work with residents in any way we can," said MTA Chairman & CEO Jay Walder.

The next step in the $4.5 billion project will include installing the tracks, signals and communication systems.

The first phase of the subway line is scheduled to begin service in December 2016.

NYC4Life

Sep 22, 2011 8:26 PM

UPDATED 4:14 PM
Power Problem Causes Delays For Amtrak, NJ Transit Trains
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...transit-trains

Quote:

New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains are still experiencing residual delays of up to 30 minutes due to electrical problems along the Northeast Corridor.
Manhattan-bound New Jersey Transit trains were stopped during the morning commute between New Jersey and the city.

Officials say there was a problem with a transformer outside one of the North River Tunnels.

New Jersey Transit says inbound and outbound Midtown Direct train service has resumed.

At one point this morning, there were two disabled trains in one of the tubes and about 1,500 passengers were stuck for about two hours.

There were also two trains disabled on the New Jersey side.

Passengers who spoke with NY1 at Penn Station said they were frustrated by the widespread delays and cancellations.

"I haven't heard anything. I just know it's gotten worse throughout the day and they haven't really explained why there's these delays going on," said one traveler.

"I've been sitting here at Penn Station since 10 this morning waiting for the 10:38 to Bayhead. It's now about 11:20 the train still hasn't come in and they haven't posted a time," said another.

Amtrak and New Jersey Transit customers should expect lingering delays in and out of Penn Station.

PATH says it is honoring NJ Transit tickets and passes.

For more information, visit njtransit.com or amtrak.com.

NYC4Life

Sep 30, 2011 5:49 PM

12:11 PM
Sources: Cuomo Rethinks Plan To "Self-Certify" DMV Eye Tests
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...-dmv-eye-tests

Quote:

It appears vision tests to renew your driver's license may not be a thing of the past.

Sources tell NY1 the Cuomo administration is reconsidering its decision to allow people to "self-certify" that their eyesight is sufficient to drive.

The policy was put into effect this week to streamline the renewal process.

The change allowed drivers to renewed their licenses online or by mail.

NY1 is being told doctors are now looking over the plan and, for now, vision tests are required.

NYC4Life

Sep 30, 2011 5:51 PM

UPDATED 12:50 PM
LIRR Service Back On Track After Lightning Zaps Signal System
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...-signal-system

Quote:

The Long Island Rail Road was mostly back on track for this morning's commute after a lightning strike Thursday caused massive service disruptions.
Crews worked through the night to repair damage caused by the strike to the signal tower at Jamaica Station.

While service was mostly restored there were still a few delays for Manhattan-bound passengers.

"LIRR crews were able to work overnight and replace the damaged computer processing equipment that took a direct lightning strike yesterday just before 5 p.m. just west of Jamaica. What that means for our customers is that the signal system which controls the signal system on the ground in Jamaica has been restored," said LIRR Spokesman Joe Calderone.

Service was completely suspended at one point, leaving thousands of home-bound commuters stranded on trains and at Penn Station for hours.

Many passengers who spoke with NY1 complained that information about the delays was hard to come by.

"I was in Mastic-Shirley. I was there probably like two o'clock in the a.m. So I didn't get on a train 'til about four o'clock this morning, 4:53. It was a hassle though. Had to sit there for like two hours and it was kinda nippy," said one stranded commuter.

"I was wondering what was going on. We're on the train, then they tell us later. So I'm running a little late, a little behind," said another.

Meanwhile, work begins this weekend to replace tracks inside the LIRR's four East River tunnels.

The project will shut down some of the tunnels every weekend between now and 2015.

Amtrak, which owns the tunnels, will be doing the work.

Construction begins tonight at 10 p.m. and continues through 5 a.m. Monday.

The LIRR says the project will have little to no affect on riders, but the rail road admits it will have less flexibility to reroute weekend trains into and out of Penn Station should something come up.

For the latest service updates, visit mta.info.

NYC4Life

Oct 4, 2011 8:51 PM

WABC-TV NEW YORK

Helicopter crashes into East River
Updated at 04:44 PM today

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ork&id=8378652

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/images/wa...perrescue8.jpg

Quote:

NEW YORK (WABC) -- At least four people have been rescued and a fifth person is missing after a helicopter crashed into the river at the East River heliport.

Joy Garnett, who witnessed the accident, told Eyewitness News that the Bell 206 helicopter went down almost immediately after takeoff around 3:30 p.m.

Garnett said the helicopter was about 20 feet in the air, just yards away from the heliport at 34th Street, when it started to spin around and then crashed hard into the water.

"I thought, 'Is that some daredevil move?"' she said. "But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down."
The pilot and three others were pulled from the water shortly after it went down by rescue crews.

One other person, a woman, is missing, officials said.

Scuba divers from NYPD and Fire Department located the helicopter under water and are conducting a search for the last victim.

The passengers, believed to be tourists, are from the United Kingdom.

Two women have been taken to Bellevue Hospital in unknown condition. A man is listed in serious condition at NYC Medical Center.

The pilot was being treated at the scene and is conscious, authorities said.

The pilot was identified as Paul Dudley, the airport manager at Linden Airport. According to officials, the helicopter, a blue and white Bell 206, is operated by Dudley and based at Linden Airport.

The chopper, a Bell 206 Jet Ranger, is one of the world's most popular helicopter models and was first flown in January 1966. They are light and highly maneuverable, making them popular with television stations and air taxi companies. A new one costs between $700,000 and $1.2 million.

On Aug. 8, 2009 a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident.

The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City's rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional.

Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, U.S. Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane.

The river has been closed to commercial boating traffic, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The weather was clear but a little windy Tuesday, with winds of 10 mph gusting to 20 mph and visibility of 10 miles, according to the weather station at LaGuardia airport. There were a few clouds at 3,500 feet above sea level, well above the typical flying altitude for helicopters.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE SCENE

NYC4Life

Oct 10, 2011 10:10 PM

NY Daily News

Norwegian's 'Breakaway' to become New York City's largest-ever cruise liner

4,000-passenger ship will home port in the Big Apple starting in 2013
Monday, October 10th 2011, 3:24 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/travel/20...ruise_shi.html

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/20..._breakaway.jpg
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces New York City as the home port of Norwegian's 'Breakaway' cruise ship

Quote:

New York is to be the home to Norwegian Cruise Line's new 4,000-passenger ship when she launches, city officials confirmed last week.

The Norwegian Breakaway is set to be the largest ship ever to home port in the Big Apple and will enter service in April 2013, departing on a planned 88 cruises in less than two years.

The first of a new class of Norwegian ships, Breakaway will carry 4,000 passengers and weigh in at over 144,000 tons, boasting new rooms designed to invoke a boutique hotel and a luxury private area called 'The Haven', complete with 24-hour butler service, a poolside valet and white-tablecloth in-room dining.

Breakaway will initially sail a series of seven-day cruises from New York to Bermuda, Norwegian confirmed.

New York is one of the most popular cruise ports in the United States and an easy embarkation point for international visitors -- the Manhattan Cruise Terminal is also home to lines such as Carnival, Cunard, Holland America, Princess Cruises and Crystal Cruises.

The arrival of Breakaway will be a significant coup for the Big Apple's tourist authorities and is expected to being an additional 140,000 visitors to the city over two years, who will spend some $35 million.

It is also a vote of confidence in the city's booming cruise trade, which saw spending in 2010 jump by 54 percent compared to 2009.

NYC4Life

Oct 12, 2011 5:48 PM

Yahoo! News / AP

Chopper that crashed in NYC had just been in shop

By CHRIS HAWLEY - Associated Press | AP – 12 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/chopper-crashe...bouchon=501,ny

Quote:

NEW YORK (AP) — A helicopter that crashed in New York City's East River with five people onboard had been in the shop just two days before the fatal flight, accident investigators said in a report released Wednesday.

Mechanics had just wrapped up their annual inspection of the Bell 206 helicopter on Oct. 2, the National Transportation Safety Board said in the preliminary report.

During an annual inspection mechanics take much of an aircraft apart, check for corrosion and replace worn parts. The work can take several weeks.

In the past, the Federal Aviation Administration has warned pilots to be alert for mechanical problems immediately after maintenance. NTSB records show at least 10 small aircraft have crashed on the first flight after their annual inspections since 1999.

Pilot Paul Dudley told the NTSB he had just taken off from the East 34th Street Heliport and was 30 to 50 feet above the river when the nose of the helicopter swung unexpectedly to the left.

When he tried to turn right to return to the heliport, the aircraft went out of control, Dudley told investigators.

One passenger died in the crash. Two other passengers were seriously injured, the report says, but it does not detail their injuries. Dudley and a fourth passenger were unharmed.

Three-fourths of one main rotor blade broke off when the helicopter hit the water, the report said.

Investigators had previously said they were unsure if the blade broke before or after the impact. They have not found the missing piece, according to the report.

The NTSB report is preliminary and does not give the cause of the accident. That determination could take months.

The helicopter was built in 1976 and had flown 11,580 hours, the report said. It had a 400-horsepower Rolls-Royce engine.

The passengers were all friends of Dudley, an experienced pilot who also manages the Linden, N.J. airport. He has 2,287 hours of flying experience, including 1,500 hours in helicopters and 420 hours in Bell 206es, according to the NTSB report.

yankeesfan1000

Oct 12, 2011 5:48 PM

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ticleLarge.jpg

U.S. Says It Will Expedite Approval to Replace Deteriorating Tappan Zee Bridge

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY
Published: October 11, 2011

The Tappan Zee Bridge, long overdue for an overhaul, was one of 14 projects chosen on Tuesday by the Obama administration for expedited federal review and approval — possibly allowing work on a new bridge to begin as early as the spring of 2013.

The bridge, which was built in the 1950s, has cost the state $100 million a year in repairs and $83 million in studies about how to replace or fix it, said the Westchester County executive, Robert P. Astorino. When he took a boat tour beneath the bridge with other elected officials in July, Mr. Astorino said, the paint was peeling, there was rust on its joints and spans, and netting covered up much of its underbelly.

Mr. Astorino feared that if the bridge were not repaired or replaced, it could one day simply be shut down — forcing drivers, who make about 170,000 crossings each day, to find alternatives.

“This is a major economic artery for the entire region,” he said...

Mr. Porcari estimated that the bridge’s construction would create 33,000 “job years.” (A job year means one job for one year; a single job that lasts for two years is given credit for two job years.)"

NYTimes

To anyone not familiar with the bridge, it is really in pretty brutal shape. It's nice to see that this much needed project may finalllyyyyy be moving forward.

NYC4Life

Oct 12, 2011 5:50 PM

Yahoo! News / AP

New Tappan Zee bridge in NY pegged at $5.2 billion

By JIM FITZGERALD - Associated Press | AP – 2 hrs 55 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/tappan-zee-bri...bouchon=501,ny

Quote:

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — The cost of a new Tappan Zee Bridge in the New York City suburbs has been shaved to $5.2 billion by focusing solely on the bridge, a federal agency said Tuesday.

In the past, mass transit components, ranging up to a new commuter rail line, were considered key elements of a new span over the Hudson River.

President Barack Obama chose the project Monday for quick federal approval of environmental and other permits, and the Federal Highway Administration said those could be obtained within a year. Construction, creating thousands of jobs, could begin soon afterward, it said.

The FHA said the 56-year-old bridge "is functionally obsolete and will soon be structurally deficient." It warned that travel restrictions might be imposed if the bridge isn't replaced.

The Tappan Zee carries the state Thruway, and about 140,000 vehicles a day, across the Hudson River between Westchester and Rockland counties, about 25 miles north of Manhattan. Deterioration has set in, and maintaining it has been costing the state up to $100 million a year.

In 2008, several designs for a new bridge were unveiled, with costs estimated at the time at $9 billion to $16 billion depending on which mass transit options were included. The possibilities ranged from upgraded bus service to light rail to an east-west commuter rail line that would link several existing north-south routes.

The FHA said the cost could have exceeded $21 billion.

Instead, "The project has been re-scoped to focus solely on the bridge," bringing it down to $5.2 billion, the FHA said. Transit components are "currently not a part of the design," it said.

It wasn't immediately clear which, if any, mass transit enhancements could be added later.

Even the trimmed project will deliver at least 33,000 "job years" in construction and materials production, the agency said, referring to the level of economic investment. One person working for four years on the bridge, for example, would be four job years.

No funds have been officially earmarked for the project, authorities said.

"As of right now, there is no funding in the (state) budget," said Jessica Proud, spokeswoman for Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who has been pushing for a quick start on the project. "We've asked the governor to put it in his five-year capital plan, but it's not, yet."

However, the FHA said New York plans to pay for most of the project — $3 billion — with bonds secured by anticipated tolls. It said the state also plans to tap labor pension funds, federal loans and other sources.

Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said only that the state is considering "a variety of funding options." He said obtaining federal approvals while the project is being finalized could save years.

The bridge project was suggested by Cuomo when Obama called for infrastructure projects that would help produce jobs. The governor said Tuesday that the federal government had recognized that "moving forward with the project is key to New York's economic future."

M II A II R II K

Oct 15, 2011 4:06 PM

New Tech Promises Less Subway Crowding, If Albany Doesn’t Beggar the MTA

Read More: http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/10/1...eggar-the-mta/

Quote:

.....

L train riders will start benefiting from more frequent service next summer, when the MTA adds trains on the weekends, which have seen an 84 percent jump in ridership since 2005. But the major advance in service, which promises to relieve crowding on some of the most jam-packed rush-hour trains in the system, will come at the end of 2012, when the new CBTC signaling system is slated to be completed. Like most transit improvements here, the implementation will be slow and will come with some service disruptions. But the short-term pains will be well worth this major upgrade to NYCT’s antiquated signal technology.

- Whereas the century-old system now in use relies on block signals with colored lights alongside the track to tell operators if they’re too close to the train ahead, CBTC uses radio signals to locate all of the trains on the line. With this information, on-board computers can calculate the distance between trains precisely and in real time, letting operators run trains closer together without compromising safety. With more trains per hour, wait times will diminish and trains should be less crowded — allowing for increased ridership as the experience of riding the subway becomes more convenient and pleasant. Adding just one train per hour adds space to move another 2,640 people. That translates to fewer times waiting while a packed train goes by, and fewer elbows in your ear when you board.

- The L train improvements, in fact, don’t fully convey what CBTC can accomplish. The line doesn’t have the “tail tracks” (extra space for turning trains around) at Eighth Avenue that would be needed to allow double-digit percent increases in train throughput. The next two CBTC installations do have room, and these shouldn’t be made to wait any longer for the extra capacity CBTC will allow. Riders on the 7 train desperately need the added service, especially now that the Flushing Main Street station is the city’s tenth busiest with 18.6 million rides last year. The current five-year capital program includes funds to fully equip 7 train tracks and cars for CBTC. The MTA has also targeted the Queens Boulevard lines (E, F, M, and R trains) for CBTC installation — a process starting in 2013 and intended for completion during the next capital program, which is supposed to begin in 2015.

.....

M II A II R II K

Oct 16, 2011 5:11 PM

One Day, Maybe, Artisanal Train Cars

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/ny...-new-york.html

Quote:

.....

All employment is good employment, obviously — 5,800 people work at the Navy Yard today — but the transition carries a powerful symbolism. Before the decommissioning of the yard in 1966 by Robert McNamara, then the secretary of defense, it employed 9,000 workers and stood as the oldest continually active industrial plant in the state. In 1938, an even greater number, 10,000, were employed on its grounds, a third of them through the Works Progress Administration. Poignantly, the spirit of the W.P.A. hovered over a conference that took place at the Navy Yard a few weeks ago, one that sought to capitalize on the resonance of its location’s history and offer a vision of something new. It was called Building the Future and sponsored by a coalition of union interests, policy organizations and sustainable-living advocates. The participants called for a large-scale initiative to expand transit manufacturing in the state and city. Why couldn’t our brake parts and headlights and signal equipment, even our rail cars and buses, be made here?

- The argument forged was at once dreamy and entirely persuasive: From 2000 to 2009, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was responsible for nearly a third of all buses, subway cars and commuter trains bought in the United States. Its current $23 billion capital program involves the acquisition of more than $7 billion worth of train cars, buses and signaling and communications equipment. These are not indulgent expenses: The signal system at the West Fourth Street subway station, for example, has not been replaced since 1932. About a third of the city’s buses are at least 12 years old — their official life span — while others, as Gene Russianoff, staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, told me, “are not in the greatest shape — they’ve stayed too long at the fair.” Economists say a healthy capacity for increased transit manufacturing exists across the state and in the city, including at repair facilities in Coney Island and at the 207th Street Yard in Manhattan (where subway cars were still being made in the early ’90s) and potentially amid the vast industrial shells at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. New York City Transit recently awarded a $115 million contract to New Flyer, a bus manufacturing company in Minnesota, for a series of compressed-natural-gas buses; only 13.8 percent of the materials used to produce them will have been made in New York State.

.....

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ticleLarge.jpg

NYC4Life

Oct 24, 2011 3:34 PM

9:51 AM
MTA: Attacks On City Bus Drivers Up 20 Percent
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...-up-20-percent

Quote:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says passenger attacks on city bus drivers are on the rise.

According to agency statistics, attacks have spiked 20 percent this year.

There reportedly have been 69 physical assaults in the first nine months of
2011, compared to 57 during the same stretch last year.

This comes after two highly publicized attacks on female drivers.

The MTA installed barriers between drivers and passengers on some buses in response to the attacks.

NYC4Life

Oct 24, 2011 3:37 PM

UPDATED 10:40 AM
Service Resumes For 6 Trains After Early Morning Derailment
By: NY1 News

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...ing-derailment

Quote:

The 6 train is back on track after a subway car derailed earlier this morning in Lower Manhattan.

Police say two cars of an uptown 6 jumped the tracks just before 4 a.m. between the Brooklyn Bridge and Canal Street stations.

Nineteen passengers were safely removed from the train and taken to the Brooklyn Bridge Station.

The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

For the latest service updates, visit mta.info.

M II A II R II K

Oct 26, 2011 3:27 PM

A Counterintuitive Trash Plan: Remove Bins in Subway Stations

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/ny...&adxnnlx=13195

Quote:

.....

The idea is to reduce the load on the authority’s overtaxed garbage crew, which is struggling to complete its daily rounds of clearing out 40 tons of trash from the system. But it also offers a novel experiment: will New Yorkers stop throwing things away in the subway if there is no place to put them?

- Officials are adding several runs of garbage trains in the middle of the day, to pick up leftover refuse bags that were missed during overnight collection. Refuse receptacles have been added to 18 stations, and, in some cases, late-night passenger trains may be delayed so that the system’s eight garbage trains can complete their runs. So far, the results are promising: the number of garbage bags still sitting on station platforms at 6 a.m. has been cut in half.

- The no-bin experiment is a more unusual approach, but it has precedent. In London, bins are banned from some Underground stations; in Washington, a similar program was abandoned because of riders’ complaints. The PATH train has had no bins since 2001 because of security concerns. Since the removal, “it seems there is less trash,” said Ron Marsico, a spokesman, although he noted that the PATH system was smaller and more easily cleaned than the subway.

.....

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ASH1-popup.jpg

KVNBKLYN

Oct 27, 2011 4:37 AM

Bloomberg is moving forward with a study to build an extension of the 7 train to Secaucus in New Jersey. The idea is to increase trans-Hudson rail capacity without the Christie-killed ARC tunnel.

I figured this proposal would die a quiet death, but apparently I was wrong.

It's not the worst idea in the world, but of course the parochial cries of insular New Yorkers have already started (no subways to Jersey, build extensions in Brooklyn and Queens first, yadda, yadda, yadda). Unfortunately, just like with much of our transportation planning, the real questions won't get asked, such as how would such an extension affect the already cramped and overcrowded stations at Grand Central and Fifth Avenue.

A 7 train extension, while not providing the elusive one-seat ride to Midtown that the ARC would have provided, would instead get passengers closer to their final destinations throughout Midtown. The train would also most likely stop in Hoboken and/or Weehawken, increasing capacity to the dense and growing waterfront (which ARC wouldn't have). And if they really wanted to do it right, they could easily extend the train along current commuter rail routes, perhaps in several branches. I would think taking over the NJT Main Line to high-density, transit-dependent Paterson would make a lot of sense, for example. Or branch off onto the old CNJ railroad route parallel to the current Hudson Bergen Light Rail and take the 7 train all the way to Staten Island (a much more useful link than the currently proposed extension of the HBLR itself).

http://gothamist.com/2011/10/26/7_tr...priority_f.php

J. Will

Oct 27, 2011 5:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KVNBKLYN (Post 5458241)

Unless there is AT LEAST one other stop in NJ besides Secaucus, I see no point to extending the subway there. There's almost nothing within walking distance of Sec. Junction, so very, very few people start or end their journey there. Almost everyone using it would be transferring. If they put a stop in say Weehawken and another in Northern Hoboken, it would be convenient. But only a stop in Secaucus would make no sense.

NYC4Life

Oct 27, 2011 12:32 PM

The Daily Greenburgh

Officials Outline New Tappan Zee Bridge Proposal
by Meredith Shamburger (email) Today

http://www.thedailygreenburgh.com/ne...ridge-proposal

http://cdn.mainstreetconnect.us/site...show/tzb_0.jpg
The proposed Tappan Zee Bridge would include two twin structures stretching over the Hudson River.

Quote:

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – A new Tappan Zee Bridge may be built sooner than previously planned, thanks to the project being put on the fast track by federal officials, but the new bridge may also be less ambitious than earlier proposals, with no mass transit included.

Transportation officials outlined the proposed options for a new bridge at the first of two public scoping briefings on Tuesday. They also addressed what had been eliminated from a previous proposal, known as the I-87/287 Corridor Plan.

Michael Anderson, project director at the New York State Department of Transportation, said the new Tappan Zee Bridge project would only include the bridge and less than one mile of roadway in Rockland County and Westchester County for a 4-mile span in total. The project will stretch from the South Broadway Bridge in Nyack to the South Broadway/Route 9 Bridge in Tarrytown.

Previous studies from the I-87/287 plan had considered improving 30 additional miles of highway. Anderson said officials will be drawing information from the studies done during the old I-87 project, noting “much of it remains valid.”

“Essentially the timeline was outdated for that project,” Anderson said. “The process for that project was complex and frankly unworkable. The economic and fiscal realities prevented financing of that corridor project.”

The proposed Tappan Zee Bridge replacement will feature two distinct spans across the Hudson River about 300 feet north of the current bridge. The north span of the new bridge would house westbound traffic. Eastbound traffic would use the south span of the bridge. The twin spans would “ensure service redundancy,” Anderson said, because one span could be used to carry two-way traffic if necessary.

Each span would include four lanes of traffic and dedicated shoulders. The north span would include a walkway for pedestrians and bicyclists. Officials are also proposing additional 12-foot areas for emergency services.

Anderson also noted that the South Broadway Bridge in Nyack would need to be replaced. The Interchange 10 west of that bridge, along with the South Broadway/Route 9 Bridge in Tarrytown, will remain intact.

The proposed bridge does not include a mass-transit system, although it doesn't preclude future mass-transit systems. Anderson outlined three ways mass-transit could be added to the bridge in the future: within the twin spans, on a third parallel bridge or running in-between the twin spans.

Commuter rail, light rail and bus transit could all be considered in the future.
The environmental impact study will also consider a no build/no action course. Anderson said this would be a projection of current conditions in terms of traffic, air quality and noise if nothing were to be done.

“The reason we do this is to establish a baseline condition to compare the alternatives,” he said.

Officials expect the draft environmental impact statement to be completed by January and a decision on the project by August.

Two previous options that had been considered in the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, a rehabilitation of the bridge and bridge tunnels, are not being considered this time around. Those options were studied extensively, Anderson said, that officials came to the same conclusions.

Rehabilitation of the existing bridge would require extensive new construction, a new parallel bridge for westbound traffic and significant foundation work, Anderson said. He also noted rehabilitating the bridge would cost similarly to replacing the bridge altogether, yet there would still be “serious vulnerabilities.”

A tunnel would require at least four tubes and would need to stretch seven miles long, which would negatively impact the surrounding environment and neighborhoods, Anderson said. Additionally, Anderson explained that the costs would be significantly higher for constructing the tunnels and considering the higher security that would be needed.

For more information on the Tappan Zee Bridge project, visit our Tappan Zee Bridge topics page.

Plans for a new Tappan Zee Bridge are in the works after it was given expedited process approval, but first officials have to complete an Environmental Impact Study.

Bronxwood

Oct 27, 2011 12:43 PM

I can see the 7 line extension going in two different directions from Secaucus. It can either go down towards Harrison and the Metrocenter/red bull arena then onto Downtown Newark, Newark liberty int. and possibly towards Elizabeth. The other more likely scenario would have the 7 train going towards the Meadowlands Sports Complex/Xanadu, and as KVNBKLYN mentioned, onto Passaic and Downtown Paterson via NJtransit's Main line. This is actually not a bad idea.

If the 7 line went to Hoboken it'd be interesting to see if it can somehow share a Hudson tunnel with an extended L train as well. Before someone mentions it, I'm aware that both lines have completely different track gauge. I'm only dreaming here. ;)

Crawford

Oct 27, 2011 2:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Will (Post 5458262)

I agree that it needs stops in Hoboken and/or Weehawken, but the Secaucus station would be, by far, the most important destination.

The Secaucus Transfer station has enormous capacity, so you could run hundreds of additional NJ Transit trains without stressing current capacity.

The tunnel to Manhattan is at 100% capacity during peak times, so no trains can be added directly into Manhattan without a new tunnel (they are lengthening platforms and have already gone to double decker trains).

Crawford

Oct 27, 2011 2:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bronxwood (Post 5458408)

All these places already have heavy rail service and direct service into Manhattan. There would be no need to extend the 7 train to any of these places.

If the 7 train were to be extended beyond Secaucus, I would imagine it would go where there currently isn't any direct rail into Manhattan.

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