Unusually, there are no environmental lawsuits filed, pending or planned that would interfere with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to speed a construction start on the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project.

Environmental studies were completed in less than a year and a Record of Decision was issued this month, a process that typically can take six years. “It may have moved at record speed, but I can assure you that there were absolutely no shortcuts taken,” says NY State Thruway Authority Executive Director Thomas Madison.

The $5.2-billion project will require six miles of piles to be sunk in river sediments to support the 3-mile-long bridge. The environmental precautions required by the state for that marine work are extreme. And Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River Program Director for Riverkeeper, says his group will closely monitor the work.