Tappan Zee Bridge

Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge
The Tappan Zee Bridge in 2020
Coordinates	41°04′12″N 73°53′28″W / 41.07000°N 73.89111°W / 41.07000; -73.89111
Carries	7 lanes (3 northbound/westbound, 3 southbound/eastbound, 1 reversible) of I-87 / I-287 / New York Thruway
Crosses	Hudson River
Locale	Connecting Grand View-on-Hudson, Rockland County, New York and Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York in the Lower Hudson Valley
Official name	Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge
Maintained by	New York State Thruway Authority
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever bridge
Total length	16,013 feet (4,881 m; 3 mi)
Width	90 feet (27 m)
Longest span	1,212 feet (369 m)
Clearance below	138 feet (42 m)
History
Opened	December 14, 1955
Destroyed	January 15, 2019 (eastern span) May 12, 2019 (western span)
Closed	October 6, 2017
Replaced by	Mario M. Cuomo Bridge
Statistics
Daily traffic	134,947 (2010)[1]
Location

The Tappan Zee Bridge is a bridge in the Hudson Valley region of New York. It is three miles long. It goes across the Hudson River. It connects Westchester and Rockland Counties. The bridge opened in 1955. It took traffic from other bridges and ferries in the area. The bridge is about 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City. The city can be seen from the bridge on a clear day. The bridge carries seven lanes of the New York State Thruway.

The bridge is named for a Native American tribe from the area called the "Tappan". Zee is the Dutch word for "sea", as the bridge crosses water.

At the beginning of the 21st century the bridge was old and too small for the traffic. People in the region argued for years for a new bridge, which replaced the old one in 2017. The old bridge was demolished in January 2019.

1. ↑ "2010 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. Appendix C. Retrieved February 27, 2010.