It’s the year 2030 and the new Tappan Zee Bridge is now open for business (I know, I’m being optimistic. :>) Now the question becomes: what do you do with the old bridge, 400 feet or so to the south of the future bridge?

Here’s a story from the NYT about what Poughkeepsie is doing with one of their venerable river crossings. If you can imagine the current bridge renovated as a pedestrian mall with restaurants and shops connecting Nyack and Tarrytown, you share the same “it can be done” attitude as Fred Schaeffer, the Poughkeepsie lawyer who heads the Walkway Over the Hudson Poughkeepsie-Highland bridge renovation committee. And have enough vision to overlook the infrastructure and maintenance issues of the current TZB, the potential parking challenges, the political issues and answering the financial questions about how you are going to keep a second bridge when you haven’t figured got the $16B to build the first one?

All true. But it’s nice to dream.