Bridge, tunnel for Sound?

Feasibility, cost, environmental issues among experts’ concerns

A road from Connecticut straight to Long Island could shave commuting time and free access to jobs — but right now it’s still mostly in the realm of science fiction and fantasy.

A report released last week explores what a tunnel or bridge spanning Long Island Sound might look like, and Bridgeport, Milford and Port Chester, N.Y, are all part of the speculation.

The Long Island Sound Crossing Feasibility Study was published in December, funded with a $5 million grant from New York state.

Public and private firms have been considering similar pie-in-the-sky projects every decade or so since 1938.

“It’s an interesting idea,” said Av Harris, Bridgeport’s director of public policy, of a roughly 20-milelong bridge or tunnel. “Not sure how feasible it is given the geographic distance between the two locations and the fact that we have a longstanding, successful ferry between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson. But we’ll be interested to see how and if this project develops further.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the his state Department of Transportation are pushing forward with the concept.

“We should continue to (pursue) a tunnel from Long Island to Westchester or Connecticut,” Cuomo said in his Jan. 3 State of the State address. “DOT

has determined it’s feasible, it would be underwater, it would be invisible, it would reduce traffic on the impossibly congested Long Island Expressway and would offer significant potential private investment.”

Justifying the $5 million expenditure for the study, Cuomo said last year that “right now the only way to get off the island is to drive all the way to the end, or you have to be a great swimmer.”

The study considered a $45 toll and a $20 toll, and concluded that the economics would “moderately” address the goal of developing cost-effective transportation options. It calculated that the $45 toll would earn around $699 million per year.

Now, a basic one-way ferry ticket with a car from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson, N.Y., costs $59. It saves time and toll costs for anyone considering driving the 86-mile journey to a Long Island town like Kings Park.

Cost estimates for Bridgeport and Milford designs ranged from $13 billion (for a bridge) to $31.2 billion (for a tunnel/bridge hybrid).

Port Chester/Rye designs varied more widely from $8.5 billion (for the cheapest bridge) to 55.4 billion (for a six-lane tunnel).

“We don’t have enough money to keep our existing roads and rails in good shape let alone work with New York to undertake a $50 billion project like this,” said commuter advocate and Hearst Connecticut Media columnist Jim Cameron. “Whatever NY DOT and Cuomo might want to do, if the project lands on Connecticut soil it will need cooperation and funding from CDOT and (state) taxpayers. I don’t see any potential benefit as justifying the cost.”

The New York proposal, which would take at least 16 years to complete, was not mentioned in a recent CDOT draft of its long-term transportation strategy.

Other routes considered in the study were ruled out either because they were not cost effective or they had high environmental costs.

Bridgeport, Milford and Port Chester were recommended for further study by WSP, a Montreal-based consulting firm.

However, it said the Bridgeport and Milford projects would be less able to handle adverse environmental issues than similar construction sites in Port Chester and Rye, in Westchester County, N.Y.

“For me, the environmental impact on Long Island Sound is just too great,” said Milford Mayor Benjamin Blake. “The Sound is Milford’s greatest natural asset and a bridge/ tunnel would place this sensitive resource at risk. So, yes, I’m opposed to any plan which would put fishing, swimming and boating on the Sound in jeopardy.”