Suddenly the flood gates of comments opened about a ramp that was closed for only a few weeks but possibly contributed to an escalating problem of rush hour standstill.
Driver anger peaked last week as the traffic conditions, always tough in the villages, seemed to reach new heights of annoyance and possibly danger.
Not blaming the ramp closure, the Thruway Authority announced a reprieve nonetheless for the holiday season; the South Broadway entrance to the Tappan Zee Bridge would reopen for a few weeks (about two, with no set date for re-closing given).
Spokesperson Brian Conybeare said many accidents and regional factors pointed to the nightmare traffic on three specific afternoons/evenings here when he announced the news at Dec. 19.
Mayor Drew Fixell had also described a more complicated "perfect storm" on the night he spent 45 minutes getting from Sleepy Hollow to Tarrytown -- with snow, an accident on the bridge, rush hour congestion, and the closed ramp, all compounding a bad situation.
Many however are now concerned with the "then what." They still believe that the ramp inevitably closing again will only kick that congestion can down the road.
"Sleepy Hollow Resident" wrote on Patch:
Every major bridge disruption diverts westbound commuters off 287/87, through Tarrytown, and onto Ramp E to skip in front of the line. This is an an infrequent event, but is not rare, and needs to be considered in any traffic study. Clearly, they screwed up the study. This ramp should not be closed until they properly mitigate the impact. I do not believe that this closure is "required" for construction for the next 18-24 months.
Harris Bank wrote:
ramp will be open for two weeks. what happens after that??
Later adding,
Tell Brian Coneybeare that the backup on Monday & Tuesday was due to the ramp closure. The accidents contribute but not that bad. You need a traffic officer at the jughandle.
Citizens are sounding off on the 10591 group page on Facebook, on Patch's Facebook page (click "comments" in the above window to see more), and following Patch's post last week.
Citizens are also starting to send letters to local and regional representatives, including Assemblyman Tom Abinanti whose office sits at the very apex of this at 303 South Broadway, a building he shares with some bridge officials. His office said they too were drafting a letter.
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