The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council approved a plan Monday to build a new bridge to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The county executives of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam said previously they would vote in favor of the project.
"It is long overdue, " said Westchester Co. Exec. Rob Astorino during Good Day New York.
Their vote was crucial for the project to qualify for federal funds.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo had been gathering the support of other officials. He spoke about the project Monday in Piermont in Rockland County.
"We have done more in the last couple of months than we have in the past 13 years," Cuomo said of the plan's progress. "We have asked the federal government to expedite our application. We are going to Washington to apply."
With the council's approval in hand, Cuomo sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to formally ask for federal funding.
"There is no doubt that the bridge replacement is critical. The Tappan Zee is outdated and unsafe with an accident rate twice that of any other portion of the New York State Thruway, and adds needless congestion for tens of thousands of commuters," the governor wrote in the letter. "The new bridge design is based on public input over the years at hundreds of public meetings and studies of dozens of concepts."
Under the current plan, the bridge will have a dedicated bus lane during rush hours.
Cuomo has agreed to the formation of a task force that will make mass transit recommendations. Some groups have called on only approving a bridge plan that includes a mass transit rail line.
The environmental group Riverkeeper on Friday criticized officials for giving only three days' notice for the vote.
Riverkeeper said the council's regulations require two weeks' notice be given ahead of time, but the council said it met the state's requirement.
The span, officially named the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, links Rockland County and Westchester County over one of the widest parts of the Hudson River.
With the Associated Press.
