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Re: (erielack) Tappan Zee Rail Project

The TZ Bridge story in the Orange County newspaper and the NY Daily News talked
about reinstating the West Shore Line crossing the Hudson with the new bridge
and following the Hudson Line into Grand Central Station.  Also, the papers
reported, Metro North was thinking about reinstating passenger traffic along
this line even without the new bridge.

Was the West Shore Line originally NY Central or Erie or someone else?  I live
in the Stewart area and I know that some of the trackage from the old Newburgh
branch of the Erie is near Newburgh, but I didn't think that it was that close
to Stewart.

Where would the West Shore Line terminate - a New Jersey connection to Penn
Station via PATH or something else?

I would love not having to cross the Newburgh Beacon Bridge every day to go to
work in Manhattan!

Thanks

Christopher Thurner wrote:

> Timothy O. Stuy wrote:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:   "erielack-owner_@_internexus.net" [mailto:erielack-owner@internexus.net]
> On Behalf Of TIMOTHY O. STUY
> Sent:   Wednesday, January 12, 2000 3:51 PM
> To:     erielack
> Subject:        (erielack) Tappan Zee Rail Project
>
> I noticed this morning that the state of NY is proposing the replace the
> existing Tappan Zee Bridge with a new one that would "link Stewart Airport
> with the Hudson Line of Metro-North".
>
> I am assuming they would rebuild the Piermont Branch to reach the Tappan
> Zee?  What rail line is near Stewart Airport?
>
> Tim
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net
> That's an interesting point, Tim.   I have take the liberty of pasting an
> article from today's NY Times regarding this.
>
> Note that the line to Stewart Airport would terminate at Port Jervis.  I
> wonder how much of the former Erie Newburgh line is around that could be
> utilized for this?
>
> Note the pessimism from some of the respondents on whether it will happen or
> not.  Also, note that one line goes from Stewart Airport west to PJ and the
> other over the proposed bridge from Suffern to Port Chester.
>
> How are these lines going to link?  One may presume that the Suffern lines
> would link to the former Erie.
>
> I'd be a little skeptical myself with the Stewart Airport line.  It just
> doesn't seem to fit into a plan for the Tappan Zee as it's at least 40 miles
> north of the bridge.  The skeptics might be right that this is just a carrot
> being dangled in front of the public.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris Thurner
>
> [NL]
> [NL]/images/maintoolbar2.map/images/maintoolbar2.map[NL]http://images3.nytim
> es.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/00/01/12/news/national/reg
> ional/ny-tapanzee.html/0/Top/default/empty.gif/7468756e6465726f7361http://im
> ages3.nytimes.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/00/01/12/news/n
> ational/regional/ny-tapanzee.html/0/Top/default/empty.gif/7468756e6465726f73
> 61
> January 12, 2000[PARA]Task Force Backs Demolishing Tappan Zee Bridge
> [PARA]By DAVID W. CHEN[PARA]HITE PLAINS, Jan. 11 -- The Tappan Zee Bridge
> has become so dilapidated and is so congested that it should be torn down
> and replaced with a new eight-lane bridge with commuter rail tracks, a state
> task force recommended today. [PARA]A new bridge would cost $4 billion,
> according to the task force, which was appointed by Gov. George E. Pataki
> last year to study ways to ease traffic on the Tappan Zee. [PARA]It also
> recommended increasing tolls during peak driving periods to reduce
> congestion while a new bridge was being built. [PARA]The recommendations are
> likely to be unpopular with many people on both sides of the Tappan Zee,
> which spans the Hudson River between Nyack, in Rockland County, and
> Tarrytown, in Westchester County. Just last week, more than 400 people
> packed a meeting of the New York State Thruway Authority in Nyack,
> expressing skepticism and anger at the suggestion of a new bridge, which
> they said could adversely affect the environment, add traffic and compromise
> their quality of life. [PARA]But after a meeting in Manhattan today, the
> task force, which was headed by E. Virgil Conway, the chairman of the
> Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that it would cost $1 billion to
> rehabilitate the bridge. The better solution, the task force said, would be
> a new bridge parallel to the existing one, with four lanes in each
> direction, bracketed by commuter rail tracks. The existing bridge, which
> opened in 1955, would then be demolished. [PARA]The rail link would consist
> of two new pieces. One would originate at Stewart Airport, in Newburgh, and
> end at an existing terminal at Port Jervis. The other would stretch from
> Suffern, cross the new bridge between Nyack and Tarrytown, then end at an
> existing station in Port Chester. [PARA]If approved, the bridge-and-rail
> project could be finished in 10 years. In the meantime, the task force
> recommended, the best temporary solution to alleviate a nightmarish commute
> would be to introduce what is called congestion pricing, which raises the
> toll at certain times of day to induce drivers to make the trip when traffic
> is lighter. [PARA]"There is no silver bullet or easy remedy for this
> situation," said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for the M.T.A., "but given all of
> the alternatives and all of the time and effort that was put in by these
> people, these are the most viable solutions." [PARA]The recommendations will
> be delivered to Mr. Pataki, perhaps as soon as the end of this week, Mr.
> Kelly said. But there is no timetable for action by the governor. [PARA]"We
> want to see the details of the report," said Michael McKeon, a spokesman for
> Mr. Pataki. "The governor wants to give it a thorough review before he makes
> his decision." [PARA]Even so, those who have followed the progress of Mr.
> Pataki's task force said today that they would be surprised if Mr. Pataki
> did not endorse the general idea of a new bridge. [PARA]The governor said
> last summer that replacing the bridge was an option because "it is so old
> and does need such major repair." [PARA]Many residents, environmentalists
> and transit groups appear to be preparing for what could a dogged fight
> against the recommendations. They say the task force's suggestions leave
> many crucial questions unanswered, including whether the project will entail
> widening the Cross Westchester Expressway, whether the federal government
> will pitch in with financing and how much land will need to be condemned.
> [PARA]"Huge feasibility questions are not answered," said Jon Orcutt,
> associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a coalition of
> private environmental groups. "So we think the new bridge is a Trojan horse
> for widening the Thruway in Rockland County." [PARA]Mr. Orcutt said he
> believed the railroad aspect of the project was more of an afterthought.
> [PARA]"To us, it's a highway and bridge project and they're dangling transit
> as the bait, but the transit is not real," he said. [PARA]No one doubts that
> the Tappan Zee Bridge is well past its prime. Though it affords drivers
> spectacular views, traffic on it is frequently bumper to bumper. [PARA]The
> seven-lane bridge was built to accommodate 100,000 vehicles a day, but it
> now handles an average of 130,000. [PARA]In recent years, planners and
> government officials have struggled to devise alternatives to the crush. In
> 1997, in a decision hailed by environmentalists and transportation groups,
> Mr. Pataki canceled a project to create a carpool lane straddling the
> bridge, saying that such a lane would only be costly and disruptive. Last
> year, Mr. Pataki established the task force to investigate other solutions.
> [PARA]But residents have since complained that they have had little
> opportunity to speak their minds. [PARA]Paul J. Feiner, the town supervisor
> of Greenburgh in Westchester, has written a letter to Mr. Pataki requesting
> that the local legislatures, and not the Thruway Authority, have the power
> to determine the bridge's future. Mr. Feiner said that he also wanted the
> authority to hire an independent consultant, chosen by local municipalities,
> to review the task force's recommendations. [PARA]One of the reasons that
> residents are wary of the authority, perhaps, is their recollection of what
> happened the last time a bridge was proposed. According to residents who
> spoke up at the meeting in Nyack, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey visited Nyack in 1950
> and declared that there were no plans for a bridge. Then, three weeks later,
> the residents recalled, state officials released engineering plans for what
> ultimately turned out to be the Tappan Zee Bridge.
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit the erielack photopage at http://el-list.railfan.net


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------------------------------

End of Erielack Digest V2 #573
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