Crossing the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge Videos

Replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge

On September 13 and 22, 2017 New Yorkled recorded our crossings of the brand new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge’s west-bound span. This portion of the bridge had opened up weeks earlier (on August 31, 2017) to vehicular traffic.

With a cost of $3.98 billion the bridge’s construction began in 2013 and is expected to be completed in 2018. It’s predecessor, the Tappan Zee Bridge, had opened up on December 15, 1955 and was expected to have lasted 50 years. It was already 58 years old by the time building of the new bridge had begun.

Here’s the video taken on September 22, 2017

We’d crossed the old bridge innumerable times over the years and it was a surprise to have found ourselves traversing the new one on September 13. There was nothing we found to be extraordinary about that day’s journey across the Hudson River. The mobile highway dividers we’d seen in years past were there and there were four lanes along the route we’d taken. Little did we realize, until our most recent crossing, that there were in fact eight lanes per span. That’s two spans, one going east and the other heading west. The reason behind our confusion stems from the fact that the east bound span isn’t completed yet; thus it was out of our view for part of the trip.

Long ago we’d learned of how this bridge would accommodate foot and bicycling traffic and sure enough it looks like that will be the case. According to the official site at www.newnybridge.com:

“The bridge will feature a shared-use bike and pedestrian path, which will include six belvederes – resting points that will reflect the culture and history of the Lower Hudson Valley. The shared-use path will provide a new connection for non-motorized transport in the region and offer an exciting recreational opportunity that currently doesn’t exist in Rockland or Westchester.”

We’ve waited for this highly anticipated project to finish for four years now. I imagine that its completion will be met with great fanfare. We’ll be pursuing this further and sharing more as the days and weeks go by.

On September 13, 2017 we’d taken a previous video on an overcast day.