White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Rapid Transit Talks Coming Up Between City-State

WPCNR Main Street News November 13, 2006: The Westchester Business Journal in an article by Alex Philippidis published today summarizes where the Tappan Zee replacement talks and rapid transit plans associated with that project stand at this time, reports Paul Wood, the White Plains City Executive Officer as saying the city has been contacted by the state to begin discussions where either a bus or rapid rail transit stop or stops could be built within the White Plains downtown with talks scheduled to begin by December according to the state.

Philippidis writes that the city of White Plains wants any rapid transit system -- rail or bus -- to link with the trolley service the city is now studying.

Mr. Philippidis reports that Jeffrey Zupan, a consultant for the Regional Plan Association suggests White Plains needs two stops -- the TransCenter at the West gateway to the city and at the Main Street-Mamaroneck Avenue intersection.

A stop at the Westchester Avenue office corridor is also envisioned in a map associated with Mr. Philippidis's report from the Department of Transportion.

The article does not address whether the rail link would be underground or above ground -- and exactly where it would be located. Other issues not raised are how any rail system is going to get to the White Plains Train Station without laying waste to a good portion of Greenburgh along Route 119-- let alone reach Mamaroneck and Main given the present state of density on either side of Main Street in White Plains. A bus transit system exists now in the county and it does not relieve enough traffic going across the county at the present time.

The following are the plans the state is considering:

+ Commuter rail (6 stops): From the bridge, trains enter a tunnel on the Westchester shore to a new Tappan Zee station north of the current tolls. Trains run underground, connect with the Hudson line just north of Lyndhurst, then resurface in Elmsford and stop just east at a new “Greenburgh” station with a park-and-ride lot. Trains follow I-287 till exit 5, where they enter another tunnel into downtown White Plains, with stops at the Metro-North station and The Westchester mall. Heading east, trains resume following I-287, stopping at Corporate Park Drive and at Purchase where another park-and-ride would be built, before ending in Port Chester at the village’s Metro-North station.

+ Light rail (15 stops): Service starts at Metro-North’s current Tarrytown station, follows the Hudson line to the Tappan Zee Bridge, then enters a tunnel into the new Tappan Zee station for a cross-platform transfer to trains bound for Manhattan. Trains stop at Meadow Way and Benedict Avenue before emerging above ground at Route 119, stopping at new Greenburgh West and Greenburgh stations. Trains follow I-287 to exit 5, then diverge to a new County Center stop into downtown White Plains, with stops at the Metro-North station, the Galleria at White Plains and The Westchester. From there trains head east into the I-287 corridor, stopping at Corporate Park Drive, two stops in Purchase and then Port Chester, where trains stop on Route 1 before ending at the Metro-North station.

+ Bus service (12 stops) would use a similar route and similar stops as light rail, but could extend past Port Chester into Stamford


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