No Mitigations in the ’50s and Other Memories

Mansion at Luke Estate looking west/The Virtual Archives

While solidifying plans with a cousin — we’re meeting Tuesday in the city — via email last week, I sent her recent pictures with the bridge in the background.

Her husband’s family had lived for a while in Tarrytown “very near the existing Tappan Zee Bridge when it was being constructed,” he told me. “The dust was endless.”

Across the street from his house was an estate that had deep top soil and a pond with koi, he said. It was bulldozed, and the top soil was used for fill.

He might be referring to the David Luke estate, razed during construction.

The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge opened Dec. 1955/The Virtual Archives

“We got to watch the Fourth of July fireworks across the river in Nyack from the cleared estate while the trains ran along the river like Lionel toy trains,” he recalled.

For a fascinating look at growing up during the bridge construction, read about memories shared during a high school reunion in Tarrytown three years ago.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

What You’ll See when the first New Span Opens

All week I’ve been saying something else will happen when traffic moves to the new westbound span. It was the first thought that came to my mind, and the pictures I posted — you are here, look over there — hopefully lent themselves to the answer:

Westbound motorists will be level with the eastbound span and will have a better (not perfect) view of what’s doing there. It’s still an active construction project, and we’re all curious, especially me!

Four weeks from tonight, the Thruway Authority and Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC (TZC) will shift four lanes of Rockland-bound traffic to the nothernmost span of the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Part two of the move — transferring Westchester-bound traffic from the current bridge to that span and separating it from opposite-direction traffic by a jersey barrier — happens later this fall. Eastbound traffic shifts to its own span when the bridge opens in 2018.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

Throwback Thursday and One Month to Opening

Cool early morning view: underbelly of span we’ll be driving on next spring/Submitted

Here’s another clue. Have you guessed what will happen when the westbound span opens next month? Today’s photo is from this time last year and is practically screaming the answer to you.

Look closely. I’ll tell you tomorrow. As always, I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

Two of the four Tower Cranes were Removed

This is a hint re my earlier blog post. If you consider the angle, then it’s telling. Something really cool will happen when the westbound span opens. Still stumped?

Checking out the cranes as the towers gain height via jump forms/© Janie Rosman 2016

Let’s focus on what you can no longer see: tower cranes. Two of the four cranes are gone which, project officials said, means the westbound span needs no more “major” construction. Crews are now putting the finishing touches, if you will, on the Rockland-bound span of the new Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017

Something Else happens when First Span Opens

Did a double-take the other day when I saw this carpet design again while waiting for an appointment. While the pattern is the same throughout the first floor, the bridge-symmetry doesn’t always appear.

After I wrote that the westbound span’s opening seems behind schedule, I was reminded this is a construction project. Much as driving on it will be a significant marker, this will remain an active site until it’s completed.

Something else (besides it accommodating traffic) will happen when the first span opens. Can you guess what it is? Tell you before the end of the week.

I’d like to know what you think.

Copyright © Janie Rosman and Kaleidoscope Eyes 2017