Following the recent adoption of the New York state budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo again brought up his plan to build a bridge or tunnel across the Long Island Sound.
During his remarks at the Association for a Better New York luncheon on April 12, Cuomo, a Democrat, doubled down on his initiative to build a connection between the mainland and Long Island.
In early January, he proposed to connect Suffolk County to Westchester, the Bronx or Connecticut via tunnel, but during the April luncheon, he was more specific suggesting building a bridge between Nassau County and Westchester or the Bronx.
“Don’t tell me [building a Soundlink bridge] is not economic; cars and trucks would save hours, literally, with that one modification,” Cuomo said. “It’s only 12 miles, it can be done.”
The first step in pursuing this project would be to conduct a feasibility study that would look at the practicality of the idea, and would measure the cost of construction and future maintenance, in addition to how it would affect factors like traffic and the environment. In January, Cuomo said he would like to spend $5 million conducting a feasibility study for his proposed tunnel.
According to state Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat, there were no funds in the adopted state budget that were specifically itemized for a feasibility study, but the money could potentially be collected by the governor’s office from a larger pool designated for multiple potential projects, most likely the state Department of Transportation’s $27 million capital budget.
While there is currently no timetable to complete the feasibility study, state officials expect the study to be conducted soon.
Latimer described the opposition to the project as “significant in both Westchester and on Long Island,” and reiterated his personal, ongoing opposition to the project, citing excess traffic, the cost of construction and environmental impact as some reasons to reject the idea.
This new proposal hit close to home particularly in the city of Rye, where a bridge was proposed by Robert Moses and former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in the late 1960s and pursued for several years thereafter. However, facing significant opposition from both local officials and state legislators at the time, the Oyster Bay-Rye Bridge never came to fruition.
When Cuomo initially announced a revival of this idea in January, Rye City Mayor Joe Sack responded in his State of the City address with strong opposition to the idea pledging to “topple the tunnel.”
Sack told the Review in January that if a feasibility study were to be conducted, he would want to take an active role in monitoring its completion. He said he didn’t believe “any legitimate feasibility study would indicate that a tunnel or bridge would be a good idea.”
Sack could not be reached for additional comment as of press time.
