Three former Westchester County executives—Alfred DelBello, Andrew O’Rourke and Andrew Spano—gathered in Tarrytown yesterday to voice their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge with a $14 cash toll.
“The bridge needs to be replaced, period,” Spano said. “This is a wise choice that the governor has put out there, and everyone should accept it.”
The cash toll would increase from the current $5 to $14 when the new bridge opens, scheduled for 2017. The discount for commuters would jump from $4.75 to $8.40. E-ZPass users would get less of a discount.
The Cuomo administration wants to build a $5 billion bridge with the capacity to add public transit.
The former county executives said this is a better option than repairing the bridge, which would cost $3 billion to $4 billion. A new bridge that included a rapid-transit system would cost $10 billion and, according to the administration, would be financial unsustainable. The cash toll in the latter option would be $28.
Read more on this topic in The Journal News today.
