How much would you pay to avoid the usual mind-numbing congestion between Oyster Bay and Westchester County?
Vincent Polimeni, the developer who is offering to build a tunnel that would run underneath the Long Island Sound, connecting Oyster Bay with Rye, N.Y., said a trip in the tunnel would cost $25. The developer said the high toll is one of the ways to pay for the project without costing taxpayers … unless, of course, they plan on ever using this tunnel.
Now, a trip over the Throgs Neck Bridge costs $4.50, but it comes with more stopping and going than a person should have to handle.
So, the question is, and keep in mind that the tunnel would not be completed until 2025, would you pay $25 for this shortcut?
Here’s the Associated Press story:
It would be the world’s longest highway tunnel, running more than 16 miles under the west end of Long Island Sound. The cost is estimated at $10 billion — and it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. A developer wants to build the tunnel with private money, recouping his costs by charging drivers $25 each way and by selling advertising.
Developer Vincent Polimeni says the tunnel between Oyster Bay and Rye on the New York mainland would let travelers going between Long Island and New England avoid crowded New York City highways and help alleviate traffic congestion.
While not expected to be completed before 2025, the proposal received renewed attention this past week when a state Senate committee held a hearing.
Polimeni acknowledges his idea was initially met with “smirks and skepticism.” But he added: “The more people looked at the plan, the larger circle of intrigued citizens who said ‘tell me more.’”
The tunnel also brought back memories of Robert Moses, the powerful New York municipal planner who was rebuffed in his bid to build a bridge over Long Island Sound three decades ago. Long Island officials savaged Moses for his plan.
“Considering that we’re on Long Island, I’m amazed they didn’t run me out of the room,” Polimeni, a developer of malls and office buildings in the New York area and in Poland, cracked during a recess at the hearing Thursday. “I think it’s a good sign.”
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto described the project as “intriguing to say the least,” but said his initial reaction was “it is unrealistic.” He promised to review the data “so we don’t have to make knee-jerk reactions and we can make an informed decision.”
Elected officials from the proposed northern terminus were not as congenial.
“We cannot in Westchester (County) absorb the additional traffic that this tunnel would bring to our roads,” said Rye Mayor Steven Otis. “It simply would make our roads nonfunctional.”
He said the Westchester Municipal Officials Association voted in December to oppose the project.
Some Long Island residents agree with Otis’ stand. Gino Longinotti of Syosset, just south of Oyster Bay, said he was curious about the project but didn’t “see it being feasible. We have traffic conditions now where all the roads are congested.”
Polimeni contends the estimated 80,000 vehicles a day using the tunnel would simply represent a shift in the roads being used, not an increase. He also argues the tunnel would ease air pollution because vehicles would be traveling shorter distances.
Polimeni has paid $250,000 out of his own pocket for engineering studies, and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. is providing investment banking advice.
Polimeni has also employed the engineering and construction firm Hatch Mott MacDonald, which has been involved in tunnel projects worldwide, including the 30-mile railroad “Chunnel” that connects Great Britain and France.
At 16 to 18 miles long, depending on the final design, the Long Island Sound project would eclipse Norway’s 15.2-mile Laerdal Tunnel as the world’s longest highway tunnel.
It would consist of two tubes carrying three lanes of traffic each, plus a central tunnel to be used for maintenance access and emergency ventilation and egress.
Where Moses — the man responsible for many of New York’s major spans, including the Verrazano Narrows — failed in his bid to bridge the sound, Polimeni is not discouraged.
“Moses had the idea, only he was going to go up and over and nobody wanted to see this,” he said.
The key to his strategy, is to take the project underground: “I thought, make it stealth.”
Considering in 2025 that $25 really will not be that much money, it does sound like an idea worth considering…Are we really willing to just let LI remain as it is and just keep getting worse and worse? Why can’t we move forward on projects that will enhance people’s lives? While it seems that much more needs to be considered about this, if people cannot handle the idea of a bridge, then why not a tunnel?
Oyster Bay is the wrong place for this good idea. Port Jefferson or Stonybrook to Bridge Port is the right place. This way both Suffolk and Nassau residents would get a break from the very high fees the Ferry’s currently charge. Not to mention the travel times.
While $10 billion seems like a lot of money today, or even the $25 toll in 2025, the bill will not be paid by taxpayers unless they find the tunnel convenient enough to actually utilize it. Which is only fair when you think about it. How many things taxpayers now pay for, especially Long Island taxpayers, that they don’t even use? Think of all the nice museums you subsidize, but which you don’t even have the time to visit! Maybe your kids get to visit them if their school takes them there, but don’t you still have to pay the entrance fee for your kid too?
The Cross Sound Link Tunnel Project will also bring a lot of extra work to Long Island, and make “Independent Long Island” that much more a reality, since we would have to depend less on NYC’s infrastructure.
I think that if the Project went forward it would also send a signal to NYC, and to Mayor Bloomberg in particular, that the $8 they wish to charge people to enter Manhattan, in order to diminish the traffic that only Manhattan is responsible for to begin with, not anyone else, is not something that will be tolerated by already overtaxed and underrepresented Long Islanders. How convenient and how typical of government! First NYC monopolizes all the traffic, and then they overtax people too after creating or exacerbating the problem in the first place!
I support Vincent Polimeni’s idea, even though he probably doesn’t support my Independent Long Island (ILI) idea, and I added a link to this article from our Web site at ilination.net to inform “Iliers” that they do have additional options besides the status quote.
Whether I would pay $25 is irrelevant. If a private developer can attract investors to construct a tunnel connecting Long Island and Connecticut…the market is speaking loudly to grab the “bull by the horns and go for it!”
Bold and innovative ideas…followed by aggressive action…that is what Long Island needs!
No doubt about it, Long Islanders need another way to get off LI. As a Suffolk County resident, knowing what lies ahead when I have to travel off or on to LI turns my stomach. The congestion is over powering and barely tolerable. Because of my ties to Upstate NY, I believe a new route off the Island is well needed. I am in favor of Mr. Polimeni’s project. I would not pay $25 today, but in 2025 I would. I just hope the MTA does not get any ideas to charge $35 in 2025 to enter the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. More problems, Yikes!
Fantastic idea!!
Build it, already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Long Island needs this more than anything, it should have been built years ago. It’s a disgrace that we’re still forced to drive thru the city every time we have to head off the island. The tunnel would create a new outlet for much of the congestion and change the dymanics of the Islands roads in a positive way forever.
I absolutely I support Vincent Polimeni’s idea …. if he can’t get it through NIMBY Oyster Bay, he should try further out on the island in Suffolk county.
Why not Build the tunnel from the Sunken Meadow to Conn?
Even though it’s longer, if you study the maps of both CT and NY, you’ll see that it’s a much more logical location with major parkways right near by.
Build it and they will come….
Great Idea, one of the best for LI that I’ve heard in a long long time ….
On the surface, Steve’s previous comment of utilizing Sunken Meadow Parkway seemed like a good idea until I realized that all the overpasses would have to be rebuilt to handle truck height. If this was economically possible I suspect that Bridgport would be a lot more amenable to the influx of commerce than Rye. Of course the tunnel would be a few miles longer; But cutting through the non-rock earth should go pretty fast. Shoreham to Bridgeport would be another option with the tunnel connecting to under-utilized Long Island route 46. With this route, overpasses would not be a problem and traffic would be drawn out of Nassau and western Suffolk to somewhat alleviate congestion.