New Tappan Zee vote crucial for federal funding

Despite claims that the process is moving too quickly, a critical vote for the new Tappan Zee Bridge is set for Monday morning, with the lower Hudson Valley's three county executives fully behind the project.

The nine-member New York Metropolitan Transportation Council is expected to unanimously approve Gov. Andrew Cuomo's replacement bridge construction proposal, which immediately would qualify the project for federal loans.

State officials said the vote is crucial to get federal funding for the $5.2 billion project.

"Nothing is being rushed," Brian Conybeare, Cuomo's community liaison for the bridge project, told Newsday on Sunday. "There is a limited amount of federal funds, and there's a lot of competition for that money. So we have been urged by the federal government to act quickly to make sure we can access these federal funds."

Riverkeeper president Paul Gallay said his environmental organization wants the state to provide a detailed financial plan before the council votes to accept Cuomo's proposal. He said environmentalists will voice their concerns at Monday's meeting.

Plans for the meeting were set in motion following a Thursday joint news conference conducted by the three Republican county executives -- Westchester's Rob Astorino, Rockland's C. Scott Vanderhoef and Putnam's MaryEllen Odell -- who announced that they were no longer withholding their support for Cuomo's bridge project because he agreed to work with them on creating mass transit solutions, including forming task forces to address specifics.

"We've committed to the vote, so let's do it," Odell said Friday.

Cuomo is scheduled to appear after the vote at 1 p.m. Monday at a Tappan Zee-related event in Piermont.

Riverkeeper and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a mass transit advocacy group, have questioned the haste in scheduling the meeting when financial plans for the project still have not been released.

"We support federal funding for the bridge project and we're not trying to delay the process, but we want to make sure it is being done in the most fiscally responsible way," said Veronica Vanderpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "At this point, we feel that taxpayers need to know what the financial obligation will be."

Meanwhile, Cuomo's bridge project advance team, which is traveling around the region conducting community informational forums, is starting to talk about the cost of the new bridge. The team also said more detailed financial plans might be forthcoming within two weeks.

Once the council vote is taken Monday, state officials immediately will begin negotiations for a portion of the $1.7 billion federal loan pot available through the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.

The council meeting and vote will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the council's Manhattan headquarters at 199 Water St. The meeting will be webcast live at www.nymtc.org.