Lawmakers: Tunnel-Bridge From The ‘Port To Long Island – Tunnel Vision At Its Best

From News 8 CT:

A politically diverse group gathered at the state Capitol for a Monday morning press conference focused on the concept of a bridge-tunnel passage across Long Island Sound.

The concept of a cross-Sound roadway has existed for nearly a century and has been revived in Connecticut in recent months thanks to the dogged advocacy of Steve Shapiro, a Fairfield County real estate developer who has taken up the cause as his own. Shapiro is not an engineer nor has he ever managed large infrastructure projects, but he’s deployed skills honed in the real estate world to capture headlines and the support of policy leaders on both sides of the aisle.

Shapiro is the first to acknowledge the ambitious nature of the proposal, which he estimates could cost as much as $50 billion, divided up among the federal government, New York, Connecticut and private investors. He envisions a 14-mile span of road and railway between Bridgeport and Suffolk County. The passage would initially tunnel underneath the Sound for a mile on each coast, with a 12-mile bridge in between. Shapiro reasons that the tunnel-bridge’s funders could recoup their costs through toll charges. Drivers seeking to avoid traffic or find an alternative to the ferry would welcome the bridge and generate further economic activity, he says.

The specific ask at Monday’s press conference was for the approval of a state-run study into the feasibility of the cross-Sound link.

Full report here