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Do any of you commute over the bridge from Rockland county to Westchester in the morning? How tough would a commute from Pearl River to Tarrytown be? How long would it take? My dh would like a 30 minute commute at the most. Is this even possible with crossing the bridge?
Asil, seems we are considering the same locations. My wife is essentially considering a job change, including opportunities in NYC, and an opportunity in Rockland County. If she takes the job in Rockland, then we will likely relocate to Rockland, and I'll be crossing the bridge every day to get to White Plains.
Crossing the bridge is a nightmare, and can be highly variable. With no traffic, the drive from Pearl River to Tarrytown is under 20 minutes. But of course, there is always traffic, and there is often bridge construction as well.
I would say 30 minutes on a good day, with the traffic actually moving at a regular pace. Probably more like 40-45 minutes on a typical rush hour morning. And could go well over an hour, if there is any construction, or any accidents.
Getting from Pearl River to the bridge is easy, 10-15 minutes. But the backup on the bridge can range from 10 minutes, to 45 minutes or longer.
The Tappan Zee is very unreliable on a daily basis, sometimes it's free-flowing and many times it's packed to the rails. Friday evenings are absolutely rotten, especially in the summer, and it can easily add an hour to the drive.
It's not too bad if you get on/off the bridge immediately on both sides of it, as that can avoid portions of the I-87/287 mess, but you still must contend with a bridge that has its share of issues. It can be done, but there will be days when it will be a pain in the neck.
Do any of you commute over the bridge from Rockland county to Westchester in the morning? How tough would a commute from Pearl River to Tarrytown be? How long would it take? My dh would like a 30 minute commute at the most. Is this even possible with crossing the bridge?
Depending upon where in Tarrytown you work...there is an entrance to the Tappen Zee Bridge just north of the bridge by the State Police Station......using this entrance puts you at the foot of the bridge...cutting you commute time substantially on the ride home......but unfortunately...even using this entrance...it could still take 20 to 30 minutes to cross the bridge in rush hour times......
Thanks for the information. I suppose there must be some sort of monthly fee if you commute over the bridge every day. I haven't been on the bridge in a couple of years but thought it was at leat 5 bucks the last time. I could be wrong about that ,don't quote me.Does anyone know how much the fee is and what the monthly rate would be?
I believe the toll is currently $4.50 or $4.75, going to Westchester. No toll going to Rockland. There is no "monthly" fee, but there is a slight discount by using EZ Pass.
Currently there are raised plates on the TZ, but they're Rockland bound at the moment. Supposedly they will be constructing a new bridge (they are always doing construction there). These plates force drivers to drive slower while the construction is occurring. It has easily added about 15 min to a drive.
The TZ is not as bad as the George Washington in my opinion. The TZ only has problems during peak times, like rush hour, or on Sunday afternoons, for example.
Your commute is always affected by the time. The good thing about your commute is that Pearl River is very close to the bridge, and Tarrytown is the first town after it.
I agree with you about the GW bridge. That bridge is always a nightmare. We are toying with looking for homes in CT now and are wondering if the commute would be shorter from say Pearl River to Tarrytown or Ridgefield Ct to Tarrytown? Mileage wise the CT town commute would be longer but I think traffic on the bridge could make it an even commute.
You can verify it with someone from that area, but I think you risk more chances of traffic coming from the CT side. You have many high traffic highways that feed into 287 from that side, like 684, the Hutch, Taconic, etc...
We briefly considered Westport, CT, but heard nightmare stories about the I-95 commute (To White Plains, for me).
The big advantage of Connecticut is lower real estate taxes, but I suspect the commute to Tarrytown may be just as bad, if not worse, than the Tappan Zee.
The Pearl Rvier-Tarrytown commute would give you an advantage at times -- When there is no traffic, it really is under 30 minutes. Though your husband might not be able to work it out immediately, he might want to ultimately just adjust his hours to avoid the bridge at its worst times. If he could get into work early in the morning, and leave before rush hour in the afternoon, he might have a relatively easy commute from Tarrytown.
Of course, depending on your budget, there are some great towns right by Tarrytown. Briarcliff, Irvington, Ardsley, and Hastings, are all great towns with excellent schools, just minutes from Tarrytown.
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Tarrytown Entrance/Exit
...using this entrance puts you at the foot of the bridge...cutting you commute time substantially on the ride home...
...but unfortunately...even using this entrance...it could still take 20 to 30 minutes to cross the bridge in rush hour times...
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