Also, bridges and tunnels to have “cashless tolling”

The first span of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which will replace the adjacent Tappan Zee over the Hudson River at Tarrytown, is scheduled to open after the evening rush hour on Friday, Aug. 25, according to state officials. Both spans of the bridge, which will cost about $4 billion, should be open next year.

On Aug. 25 workers will shift four lanes of westbound traffic to a completed span of the Cuomo bridge. Eastbound traffic will be shifted to the span in the fall. The traffic will be separated by a jersey barrier until the second span of the new bridge is finished in 2018.

In addition, the Metropolitan Transit Authority plans to have “cashless tolling” in place at all New York City area bridges and tunnels by the end of the year, including Throgs Neck in September and Bronx-Whitestone in October.

With cashless tolling, overhead sensors and cameras record the E-ZPass or license-plate number of each passing vehicle and drivers do not have to slow or stop at toll gates. An invoice will be sent to the registered owners of vehicles that do not have E-ZPass.

New York State Thruway Authority photos

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6 replies on “First Span of Cuomo Bridge (the New Tappan Zee) to Open Aug. 25”

    1. Drivers can call it whatever they prefer but the state Legislature approved the name for the new two-span bridge in June. The official name of the old 3-mile bridge, which was built in 1955, is the Gov. Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, after the former Republican governor from Yonkers. Tappan Zee refers to the Tappan tribe of the Delaware/Lenni Lenape and the Dutch word zee, which means sea. The state Department of Transportation will reuse most of the Tappan Zee’s deck panels, but some are going to upstate counties for $1 each. Chemung County, for example, bought eight to replace two rural bridges.

  1. I go over this bridge twice and day and it will remain in my mind and voice the Tappan Zee Bridge, no disrespect to Mario Cuomo. It can be referred to as the Mario Cuomo Tappan Zee Bridge, if need be.

  2. The Triborough Bridge was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge but everyone still calls it the Triborough Bridge.

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