Z is for (Tappan) Zee

I’m doing this blogging A to Z thing. Today is Z.

So this is it. On a whim, on the day the thing started, I signed on to do this A to Z Blogging Challenge. For the month of April, several thousand people wrote a blog entry every day (not counting Sundays), with each day’s topic starting with a new letter. Some had a general theme. Others, like me, winged it. Coming up with a new topic each day was the biggest challenge, and quite a few days, I hit publish moments before the day ended.

Today, I’m writing early as I’m going out later and won’t have a chance to write something before the end of the day. But still, rushing to get something on paper (figuratively) before I head out.

The New Tappan Zee Bridge

I remember the first time I drove over the Tappan Zee Bridge. I was in college, heading from Northern New Jersey to the Bronx. I was never really conscious of the hill in the middle of the bridge until I drove over it at high speed in dense fog. Yikes.

Since then, I’ve driven it hundreds of times, in all sorts of weather. The bridge wasn’t built for the amount of traffic it gets, so traffic jams are the norm. More than that, the bridge can’t handle the stress. It hasn’t felt safe in years. And it seemed like they were talking about replacing it for years.

A few weeks ago I read an article about the construction process for the new bridge. I guess I haven’t been out that way in a while; I had no idea how much progress they’d made.

I love the design of the new bridge – it’s really visually striking. But the construction process is kind of amazing. Obviously, building in the middle of a river is a bit of a challenge. I’ve heard from people who commute across the existing bridge that watching the construction is the best part of their commute. I imagine people slowing down to watch contributes to the bridge delays I hear about in the traffic report pretty much every day. But it probably makes the commute a little safer too. Kind of like putting mirrors in stairwells to keep people from rushing down the stairs.

The new bridge is clearly being built to accommodate more cars, and apparently there will be no toll booths. They’re going with high-speed EZ Pass and high-speed cameras that will capture the license plates of anyone without an EZ Pass so they can send them a bill.

Hopefully, someday soon, the daily bridge traffic report will be a thing of the past and crossing the Hudson on the way to New England won’t be the scariest part of the trip.