Westchester and Fairfield Co. ferry service

[202_Cyclist]

There is bipartisan legislation to increase funding for passenger ferry service. It sounds like a good bill and maybe with the reauthorization of the highway bill coming up, it will be included in that.

I was reading CT is studying a $50B bridge from Bridgeport to Long Island . Would additional ferry service (there is a car ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson) from maybe New Rochelle to Port Washington and from Stamford to Huntington be feasible?

Even if a Bridgeport - Long Island bridge is feasible, it would probably be 30 years before it is completed. Several companies are manufactured electric ferries now and I am sure NYC would like to see fewer cars drive through the the Bronx and Queens to reach destinations on Long Island.

https://www.workboat.com/bipartisan-bill-would-boost-federal-ferry-funding-to-1-35-billion-annually

[202_Cyclist]

Although Long Island seems like another world, it is only 3-4 miles across the Sound from New Rochelle to Great Neck and Port Washington

[202_Cyclist]

There is a new website for the proposed Bridgeport - Long Island bridge.

https://www.ctlii.com/

[mhays]

From around Bridgeport that looks like a minimum of 11.7 miles across. That's a long way. Much of it's over 80' deep (with a lot of areas well over 100'), but there's an interesting path south from Lordship that's shallower and has some rock base to at least make the north half easier.

I'm not an engineer, but it looks like it could handle some sort of affordable stilt system for a few miles, then a have big span to a shallow spot in the middle, then a series of massively expensive underwater towers with a few more big spans for the last five+ miles to Lon Giland. (Edit: now looking at the actual study...)

A similar idea has been discussed for the Puget Sound, but it's generally unpopular and our water is much deeper. A lot of residents prefer to keep the west side of the sound less populated and harder to get to, and/or love the ferries.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by mhays

From around Bridgeport that looks like a minimum of 11.7 miles across. That's a long way. Much of it's over 80' deep (with a lot of areas well over 100'), but there's an interesting path south from Lordship that's shallower and has some rock base to at least make the north half easier.

I'm not an engineer, but it looks like it could handle some sort of affordable stilt system for a few miles, then a have big span to a shallow spot in the middle, then a series of massively expensive underwater towers with a few more big spans for the last five+ miles to Lon Giland. (Edit: now looking at the actual study...)

A similar idea has been discussed for the Puget Sound, but it's generally unpopular and our water is much deeper. A lot of residents prefer to keep the west side of the sound less populated and harder to get to, and/or love the ferries.

Indeed. The bridge is estimated to cost $50B and it could be maybe 30 years to build. In the meantime, Fairfield and Westchester Counties should study the feasibility of high-speed passenger ferry service to Long Island.

[mhays]

They've thought of the tunnel concept, which seems plausible. Must be nice having relatively shallow water.

[Crawford]

No thanks. $50 billion could completely transform rail transit in Westchester and Fairfield. We don't need another auto tunnel.

If it's a HSR rail tunnel, as has been proposed for years, sure.

Also, whatever happens, there would be a gauntlet of NIMBYism. The North Shore of LI, and the Connecticut Coast are both loaded with very rich households, on very prime waterfront land. Darien, CT recently had to pay $85 million to buy one freaking waterfront estate, to build a park.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Crawford

No thanks. $50 billion could completely transform rail transit in Westchester and Fairfield. We don't need another auto tunnel.

If it's a HSR rail tunnel, as has been proposed for years, sure.

Also, whatever happens, there would be a gauntlet of NIMBYism. The North Shore of LI, and the Connecticut Coast are both loaded with very rich households, on very prime waterfront land. Darien, CT recently had to pay $85 million to buy one freaking waterfront estate, to build a park.

Getting back to the original question of this thread, do you think frequent passenger ferry service between Westchester County and Long Island and Fairfield County and Long Island would be viable?

I don’t doubt there are a lot of NIMBYs along Fairfield’s Gold Coast but the bridge would be built in a largely industrial area in Bridgeport that is working class. It has very different demographics than Greenwich or Westport.