Lane Shifts, Closures As 2nd MCB Span Preps For Opening

NYACK, NY — Travelers headed east and south on the New York State Thruway will have to deal with lane closures and shifts in Rockland County starting Friday night as Tappan Zee Constructors gets ready to open one of the last big pieces of the new bridge across the Hudson River. The second span of the Cuomo Bridge opens to traffic on Saturday.

Still to come: a dedicated bus lane will open this fall for eastbound traffic.

The fully completed project will include shoulders and dedicated bus lanes in each direction, and a bicycle and walking path.

Operations to shift Westchester-bound traffic on the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to the crossing’s new eastbound span will begin Sept. 7, weather permitting, Thruway Authority officials announced Wednesday. Workers will reconfigure the landings and stripe the lanes at both ends of the new 3.1-mile span during the overnight operation.

Motorists traveling on the southbound/eastbound New York State Thruway (I-87/I-287) should plan for lane closures and traffic stoppages. There will be no lane closures in the Rockland-bound direction.

Following the eastbound traffic shift, Westchester-bound motorists will have access to four general traffic lanes and emergency shoulders.

Rockland-bound motorists will continue to use the current four lanes on the westbound span (see Shift 1).

In the coming weeks, the four lanes of westbound traffic will be shifted to the opposite side of the span (where eastbound traffic used to be) to allow for construction of the bicycle and pedestrian path and its six overlooks (see Shift 2).

The bridge, including its landing areas, remains an active construction work zone. As such, the posted speed limit will remain 45 mph on both spans for the safety of motorists and construction workers. The Thruway Authority strongly encourages motorists to abide by the reduced speed limit and remain alert when crossing the bridge.

Here are details about Friday night’s traffic shift from Thruway officials:

• Multiple lane closures will begin at approximately 8 p.m. Friday as traffic conditions permit. At least one Westchester-bound lane will remain open except when State Police stop and temporarily hold traffic.
• Work will require a temporary closure of the Thruway (I-87/I-287) Exit 10 (Nyack - South Nyack - US Route 9W) southbound on-ramp from 8 p.m. until 7 a.m. Saturday. Southbound/eastbound drivers will be detoured to the exit 11 on-ramp, shown below.

During the shift, thruway official said, there will be two traffic stops of all four southbound/eastbound lanes near Exit 10 in South Nyack, each lasting up to 20 minutes. The traffic stops will allow Thruway Authority and Tappan Zee Constructors workers to stage operations, stripe lanes at both ends of the bridge and shift barriers and equipment.

Immediately following the shift, traffic will travel across the new eastbound span in the right lane. All four southbound/eastbound lanes are scheduled to be fully open by 7 a.m. Saturday. Variable Message Signs along the Thruway and other highways in the region have been activated to inform motorists of the traffic shift. Motorists are encouraged to tune to Thruway Highway Advisory Radio for updates.

Thruway tolls, including those on the new bridge, are frozen at their current levels until at least 2020.

About 50 million vehicles cross the bridge annually.

PHOTO via New York Thruway Authority