TBT: Then You Didn’t See Them and Now You Do

I loved having the road (almost) to myself early one morning last July while en route to a fundraiser swim in Clarkstown. Below is how it looked nearly two weeks ago. What you can’t see is the annoying stop-and-go westbound traffic.

Talk of the bridge is everywhere. Tuesday I went to the eye doctor, and while I was waiting for my pupils to dilate I overheard a woman to my left speaking. My eyes were closed to block out the overhead light so she had no idea I was listening.

“I can’t see how things will be better after it’s built,” she said. “It took me an hour to get to (name’s) house the other day,” the person next to her answered. “I might wind up taking the Bear Mountain Bridge and then catching the highway. It might be easier.”

One of the two people was called into the doctor’s office. Wonder how the rest of their conversation went.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2016

Blue Steel Girders Visible on Westchester Side

The Westchester approach span piers being connected by blue steel girders above the Westchester trestle’s westernmost part. The blue girders placed since this picture (April) are visible to motorists driving by. Below, crews work on the main span crossbeam. Photos courtesy of New York State Thruway Authority.

If you’ve been reading the weekly announcements, then you know crews began building the new maintenance facility began in early May. Amazing the state is building a second Tappan Zee Bridge when early ideas for a crossing and proposed locations caused strife after the turn of the century for several decades.

More in a later blog post. I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2016

Peregrine Falcon in Flight and a Friend’s Story

The falcons’ new residence being built in background/ EarthCam® construction camera

When I last checked the falcon cam there was a newly hatched bird that became known as Irvwing. The nest that sits cozily on the bridge will be moved to the new bridge once it’s completed — after one of the community meetings two weeks ago a member of the project team pointed out its location — and the resident falcons will have a new home in the same place.

Is this like moving to the house next door?

Five months after crews start building their new home/ EarthCam® construction camera

While I’ve never seen a Peregrine falcon up close or flying in the sky or resting on a wire one of my friends has . . . and he wrote about the experience of seeing her and included pictures. Pretty cool!

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2016

Three Lanes in Each Direction, Traffic Congestion

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a ride in the country, and we had a terrific time!

* * * * *

My friend and I left later than planned for our day trip upstate. Some define “upstate” as Westchester, some as Rockland. We planned to take Exit 16 and agreed it starts (for us) somewhere around New Paltz or Kingstson (Exits 18 or 19) off the Thruway.

It took us less time to get from my friend’s house to 287 near Exit 2 (I took the Sprain) than it did to get from that point to the bridge’s approach span. Given that it was Father’s Day, we anticipated some traffic; this amount was ridiculous.

Recently I followed an online discussion and traffic on the Thruway and what happens when the new bridge is completed. Those were my thoughts as I drove; she read my mind and asked what happens if the Thruway remains three lanes in each direction?

Above is what we saw past Exit 9 westbound around 1:30 p.m. yesterday.

Doesn’t look so bad, right? Probably not, compared to what happened when we were past Exit 15 on the way home (around 7 p.m.), where traffic crawled from there to bridge for the next 45 minutes. As I drove we took turns commenting about the traffic. “What’s going to happen when the bridge opens?”

Stop-and-go traffic continued until Exit 10 (left) and across the bridge to exit Exit 9. We talkI told her about the corridor project that became the bridge project.

A partial answer to the congestion west of the bridge in Rockland and east of it in Westchester is a new bus rapid transit system. While not an expansion, this solution was discussed last year, and money to implement it was infused months later.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2016

New Bridge, New Path Design, a New Beginning

“You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.” — author James R. Sherman, Ph. D.

What an exciting time for South Nyack! After more than 60 years the village is looking forward to new possibilities as the bridge project makes — and changes — history.

Last year the state agreed to relocate the Rockland terminus (landing point) away from residential village streets to Thruway property near Exit 10 with adjacent parking.

Last week Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the village’s preferred option for the path’s landing, “Alternative F” at $16 million, was chosen after a thorough review of its impacts and benefits to the local communities.

Watch for an update in the July 2016 issue of Rivertown Magazine.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2016