Road being Readied; Thruway Facility Underway

Start of Thruway Authority facility at the Westchester shared use path landing/NYSTA

Seven days left for motorists to drive westbound on the Tappan Zee Bridge. As crews ready the roadway for the August 25 overnight shift, they will stripe the westbound span’s traffic lanes and landings.

Because you have to watch out for motorists who cross the solid white lines on the current bridge’s approach spans you may have missed seeing progress on the maintenance facility in Tarrytown.

Project officials report crews are installing the exterior (phase three). Phase one was pouring reinforced concrete, and phase two was installing structural steel. The first photo is what it looked like months ago, and the above photo shows a current view looking east. Photo courtesy of New York State Thruway Authority.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

Trespassers: Stupid, Brash, Lucky and Arrested

So these three kids set out on an adventure . . . they thought. What they did was endanger themselves. Someone said teenagers do stupid things. Not all teens. These kids, yes.

The first span opens in less than two weeks, and we’re all wondering what the new drive will be like. I watched the YouTube video, my hand over my mouth many times as I recognized views, many dangerous, I’d seen in project photos. Photo above courtesy of New York State Thruway Authority.

It made me appreciate all the more the crews who are working on this project.

They were stupid, brash, and lucky none of them slipped, fell or was seriously hurt. At the nursing facility where mom is recuperating from a broken leg, the elevators have alarms to alert the staff when someone who is not supposed to be without an escort tries to get on. It locks, and a member of the staff has to push a code to release the door.

I thought alarms or similar securities monitor the project site. Then again, who thought anyone would trespass and enter this dangerous construction area for a pre-dawn prank?

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

Crews readying New Span for Traffic Shift

Yesterday’s story in the Rockland County Times posted prior to these new photos of crews paving the westbound span in preparation for rubber meeting the road two weeks from tonight. Photos courtesy of New York State Thruway Authority.

“There’s a lot of new work in Rockland,” one nurse, who lives in Monsey and works at mom’s facility, told me, referring to what she saw at that landing. Work on both landings includes preparing slot drains, temporary barriers and striping.

Final driving surface prep will be completed this week.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

One Last Summer for Clear Views of the TZB

It was five years ago that three companies responded to the state’s Request for Proposal with approximately 750,000 pages packed into about 70 boxes, and by a 4 p.m. deadline in late July.

Lots of numbers.

The following year at this time, oyster harvesting was completed, dredging was underway, and you had one last chance to capture a clear view of the Tappan Zee Bridge on film.

* * * * *

Mom had her second follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon last week, and Friday I brought a pair of her shoes and socks to the nursing facility. It was the first time in three months that she wore both, and she was excited.

I was sitting sideways in the back of the ambulette on the return trip speaking with mom and the driver, Henry, who said he can’t wait for the new bridge to open because reliability is imperative for him.

“I see the new bridge many times a week because I pick up people in Rockland,” Henry said. “Sometimes I am stuck in traffic with someone in the ambulette, and we are late for where we are going.”

* * * * *

The week before last, I witnessed the aftermath of large truck that overturned onto its right side where the Exit 5 ramp makes a sharp turn to meet Route 119. Numerous EMS vehicles, police cars, a truck recovery vehicle and officers were at the scene. It’s a dangerous curve for cars that often back up beyond that point — although it’s a two-lane merge — when Route 119 is congested.

Additionally, as I wrote in a recent article, White Plains is not one of the seven Metro-North stations that participates in its Guaranteed Ride Home program. I still feel ARUP was incorrect to map a commuter bus route from Rockland County to White Plains.

Watch for latest project details in this Thursday’s Rockland County Times.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

On A Bus Home, Accompanied by Springsteen

Especially significant to the artist: her watercolor painting “Coming home on the Tappan Zee” /© Donna Davies Timm

October 1975. “Born to Run” is blasting on the bus radio, as we Westchesterites and Long Islanders fly through Rockland County. The SUCO bus left Oneonta at 4 p.m., and we’re due to arrive at the County Center at 8:30 p.m.

Then we see it, the Tappan Zee Bridge. While I’m glad to be back for the weekend — and looking forward to catching up with friends I’ve not seen in two months — I’m unprepared for the little shiver that runs through me.

I chose the upstate New York college for its nutrition program, then wondered what made me think chemistry would be easier than in high school? The following year I transferred to community college, switched majors, and worked part-time.

The bridge was nearly 20, the average age on that bus; Bruce, not much older. Here’s how the view will change next month.

Westbound on the Tappan Zee Bridge, circa July 2008/Courtesy of Ian C. Ligget

If I were a painter, my canvas would show the inside of that chartered bus, where you step up into seats on either side of the aisle; above them, compartments hold luggage and coats. In those seats, some teenagers are dozing, some are watching the bridge — illuminated against the dark sky — move closer, others are belting out, “Tramps like us baby we were born to run!”

Initially posted three years ago, one month before the Bridge Art Show opened.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017 (originally 2014)