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resolution 2 pages

Also attached to this agenda item: TZB NWEACResolution Support- January 21 2012-1 2 2

On motion of TRUSTEE____________, seconded by TRUSTEE _______, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York: Whereas, the inclusion of public transportation has been a central feature of the Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Project (the "TZB Replacement") since the launch of formal environmental review in 2002 and before. After receiving detailed public input in 280 meetings and data generated over 10 years, all five alternatives–and all but the "No Build" alternative–for the TZB Replacement included transit; and Whereas, New York State and the federal government, after years of public input and broad consensus on the inclusion of public transportation in the TZB Replacement, have abruptly decided to pursue a replacement without transit and have re-started the environmental review process based on an alternative lacking public transportation; and Whereas, approximately 138,000 vehicles travel across the Tappan Zee Bridge every day, far more than the bridge was designed to handle when built in 1955, with this volume is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, and, that without public transportation, the TZB Replacement would not result in increases in peak-direction capacity or long term operational changes to traffic patterns, and that without improvements, travel times across the Tappan Zee Bridge/l-287 corridor (the "Corridor") are expected to grow by as much as 70 percent; and Whereas, the development of public transportation as part of the TZB Replacement is central to relieving congestion in the Corridor and local arterials, improving air quality, achieving sustainability goals, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, improving pedestrian safety, and improving motorist travel time, in Westchester and New York State; and Whereas, residents of communities in the TZB service area would be burdened by many years of unnecessarily increasing traffic, if transit infrastructure is not included in the TZB Replacement; and Whereas, Westchester County is planning its own Bus Rapid Transit ("BRT") routes, which would benefit from and become more effective by eventually interconnecting to BRT or other public transportation on the TZB; and Whereas, New York State and the Federal Highway Administration should not repeat the mistakes of the past by locking in automobile- and truck-only infrastructure in this important Corridor 'for decades to come; and Whereas, if not built as part of the current plans for the TZB Replacement, public transportation is very unlikely to be added in the future and the State, Federal government and local communities, as a practical matter, face a "now or never" decision for incorporating public transit at a lower cost than if postponed; and Whereas, including public transportation in the TZB Replacement is consistent with and advances the purposes of numerous state, county and federal government policies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, including the New York State Climate Action Plan, the Westchester Action Plan for Climate Change, and federal goals enshrined in the Clean Air Act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, Executive Order 13514; Now therefore be it resolved, that the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, acting through its Board of Trustees hereby 1) calls upon Governor Cuomo, the New York State Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Authority to restore dedicated public transportation infrastructure to its long-held place in any and all plans for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. 2) calls upon other affected communities and municipalities to let their opinion be known to Governor Cuomo and the relevant agencies and representatives of New York State and the federal government on this critical decision that will impact quality of life for decades to come. 3) pledges to join with other affected municipalities to participate fully in the TZB Replacement planning process to ensure that the TZB Replacement when built will be fully consistent with the important concerns and objectives clearly expressed by the citizenry over the many years of the TZB Replacement planning process. Dated: February 6, 2012