On Monday, June 15, the Connecticut-Long Island Initiative (CTLII) hosted a press conference to talk about a future bridge across the Long Island Sound. The CT-LII’s proposed bridge, which was designed by housing developer Stephen Shapiro, would have a mile-long underwater tunnel on each side of the corridor that would lead to artificial islands, and a 12-mile bridge connecting the islands. It would connect Bridgeport to the Sunken Meadow Parkway on Long Island.
If it is built, the bridge would provide another route for people to travel from Connecticut to the city, and vice versa. Currently, there are two ferry routes between Connecticut and Long Island that can each carry a few hundred people a day. Most of the travel between Long Island and Connecticut happens around New York City; Around 400,000 people travel across the Queens-Bronx Parkway every single day.
“I-95… is one of the central economic arteries of Connecticut and the Northeast as a whole. When that artery is strained, the consequences reach our households, our employers, our ports, our municipal roads,” said Anthony Afriyie, the chairman of the Stratford Town Council. “Connecticut is already formally examining congestion and mobility challenges along this corridor. A connection across Long Island Sound may not solve every transportation problem, no responsible person should assume or claim otherwise, but a serious study can determine whether it can redirect a meaningful share of passenger transportation and traffic, complement our rail and ferry systems, and improve regional mobility and reduce some of the pressures placed on I-95.”
There have been conversations among politicians and community activists about building a bridge across Long Island Sound for almost 100 years.
Most recently, New York Department of Transportation (NYDOT) officials published a feasibility study in 2017. The study looked at various options for building bridges and tunnels across the Long Island Sound, including a bridge and tunnel combination that would span between Bridgeport and Kings Park, New York, which would lead on to the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in Long Island. The NYDOT primarily evaluated a corridor to connect Westchester to Long Island.
The study found that it was possible to build a travel corridor across the sound, but the project costs ranged between $8.5 billion and $55.4 billion. The $8.5 billion proposal was for a bridge connecting the towns of either Port Chester or Rye in Westchester to Oyster Bay in Long Island. That study did not address the potential environmental impact of that project.
The NYDOT estimated that a bridge and tunnel combination connecting Bridgeport to Long Island would cost around $22 billion. This includes the costs of construction, insurance, support services, legal fees, and more.
The Long Island Initiative estimates that a bridge and tunnel combination would cost around $50 billion.
Both the Initiative and the NYDOT’s proposals were modeled after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) in Virginia. It is a 17-mile corridor that connects the Delmarva Peninsula with mainland Virginia. There are mile-long tunnels on both sides of the CBBT, which lead to artificial islands, and then a 12-mile bridge connecting the two islands.
In his presentation, Shapiro said that Connecticut and New York would directly contribute $1.25 billion each, and the states would receive a $25 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act, or TIFIA, loan from the federal government, and the rest of the money would come from private investors. He said he has “had some conversations with folks down in the city” about the bridge.
The CT-LII could not be reached for further questions about the proposal.
“A feasibility study is not a ribbon cutting, it is not a blank check, it is not a commitment to build regardless of the consequences. It is a disciplined first step that a responsible government takes place before making major decisions,” Afriyie said. “For far too long in our history, our country has become very good at explaining why ambitious projects are too difficult. We can identify every obstacle, every jurisdictional conflict, every procedural complication, and every reason under the sun that something might fail. What we have become less practiced at is asking, what would it take to make something succeed?”
Shapiro believes that construction could begin in five to ten years, and a bridge could be completed in the next 15 to 20 years. Shapiro is taking into account the time needed to conduct all of the necessary environmental studies, secure funding, and deal with legal challenges.
The next step is for both New York and Connecticut to create a feasibility study for the bridge, Rep. Joe Hoxha (R-Bristol) said. He believed that this could happen during a long legislative session.
According to Shapiro, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and her staffers were invited to the press conference, but did not come.
Former Connecticut Speaker of the House James Amann said he knew 36 Connecticut legislators who were interested in creating a feasibility study so far, and that they needed another 40 to guarantee a study makes its way through the legislature.
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