Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, and Thruway Authority Executive Director
Matthew Driscoll,
NYACK – Governor Cuomo gathered a boatload of reporters on Tuesday to take a tour of the Hudson River at the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge named after his father, and the old Tappan Zee Bridge.
He talked up the years and years of delays in replacing the old bridge as it continued to deteriorate and that he was able to have a new bridge designed and built in just a couple of years.
“This is the economic lifeline between Westchester and Rockland,” Cuomo said. This is a very important thoroughfare for the entire region, and not only is it bigger and better with more capacity etcetera, with a 100-year life, and I’m a little partial, but I think it is just a much better looking, more inspiring structure and more befitting the State of New York, not taking anything away from the old Tappan Zee.”
State officials said the second span of the new bridge should be completed later this year as the old bridge is dismantled.
Sections of the TZ Bridge will be sunken off the shores of Long Island to create artificial reefs. Slabs of the roadbed are being sold to municipalities for $1 each for reuse.
