The I-287 and Mario Cuomo (Tappan Zee) Bridge corridor in Rockland and Westchester counties is a key artery that should, in the future, support faster transit and more equitable and sustainable growth in the Lower Hudson Valley.
Unlike the old Tappan Zee Bridge, the new Mario Cuomo Bridge includes a walking and cycling path, and was designed to accommodate the region’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service. With 200,000 daily trips between Rockland and Westchester counties, there is already enough demand for new BRT service in the corridor. And demand is certain to increase in coming years as Westchester and Rockland Counties grow in population and jobs—seven new buildings are under construction in White Plains alone.
The Fourth Regional Plan supports this type of dense, transit-oriented, equitable growth in the region’s downtowns. It includes recommendations to revise road design standards and promote collaborative planning for highway corridors to improve the type of transit services the I-287 Corridor needs. Siting new bus (and ultimately, BRT) stations near housing and jobs would both provide alternatives to traveling by car, and promote pedestrian-friendly development in vacant or underutilized properties, such as the parking lots at the Nanuet and Palisades malls.
Managing highway congestion through pricing and demand management, as the plan proposes, would make travel by car or bus faster and more reliable in the corridor. State resources and incentives to support mixed-use, multifamily development would help revitalization efforts already underway in downtown centers such as Suffern, Tarrytown, White Plains, and Port Chester. The Fourth Plan’s proposed regional rail service (T-REX) would promote job growth in the corridor by dramatically improving rail access in the morning peak hours.