Greenport ferry to Shelter Island gets upgraded waiting area

A $3.1 million project to revamp the queuing area for vehicles waiting for ferries to Shelter Island from Greenport is complete ahead of schedule — and just in time for the busiest season on the mile-long water route, village officials said.

The upgrades include a redesigned ferry line from one to five lanes to alleviate traffic backups in the surrounding neighborhood, plus improvements to a parking lot near the adjacent Long Island Rail Road station, connectivity for pedestrians and stormwater infrastructure.

The North Ferry fleet includes four boats linking Greenport to Shelter Island and transporting about 1.4 million passengers a year, according to Stella Lagudis, general manager of Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corp., which owns the fleet.

Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi said construction, led by Cutchogue contractor Corazzini Asphalt, began in December and the project was finished in time for Memorial Day. “They worked through cold weather, rain and a touch of snow throughout and did fantastic work,” Stuessi said in an interview.

Stuessi said the queue opened in late May, about 56 days ahead of the projected timeline.

Greenport Village managed the project, which is 80% grant funded, officials said.

Attempt to ease traffic

Village and North Ferry officials have been trying to find a solution to traffic jams stemming from the line for nearly a decade. In that time, traffic has worsened as more drivers use the route to bypass the so-called “trade parade," daily traffic jams fueled by the volume of tradespeople commuting to the Hamptons on the South Fork.

Stuessi said the large volume of trucks has been a “burden” on the village.

“These guys who are going to construction projects, whether it's building a house or filling a swimming pool with water, they come through Greenport now and go across two ferries to save time because the traffic’s gotten so bad,” Stuessi said.

The backups block residents’ driveways along Wiggins Street and have even stretched onto Front Street and as far west as Ninth Street.

Janelle Ratsey, who has lived on Wiggins Street since 1993, said lines used to form only on busy holiday weekends. But in recent years she's noticed an uptick in landscaping, cement and pool trucks bound for Shelter Island.

"It is what it is. It's part of the charm," she said. "They're all working people."

Ratsey, 59, said the traffic hasn't bothered her, besides frequently having to rinse soot off her front porch.

She said she's already seen an improvement with the new system. 

“By 7:30 a.m., it’s not in front of my house anymore,” she said. “It seems to be working really well.”

The new design can hold up to 74 vehicles in the queue, more than double the previous capacity of 36, according to project designs.

Lagudis said traffic is flowing well, though the crew has some kinks to work out.

“They’ll never eliminate traffic on Wiggins [Street] completely; that’s impossible. It’s math — we have so many boats and there are a lot more cars and trucks,” she said in an interview. “This was an attempt at trying to alleviate some of the traffic.”

Seeing other benefits

The new design requires more staff managing the lanes, assisting as captains load cars onto the boats, and blocking cars from cutting into the line from Third Street, Lagudis said. 

“We’re confident that we’re going to get it down to a science,” she said.

In May, the Suffolk County Legislature approved fare increases for ferry riders, the first since 2023, Newsday previously reported. Most passengers will now pay $26 for a round-trip ticket, up from $24.

The company eliminated nonresident passes, which drew some criticism from teachers who live on the North Fork but teach in the Hamptons and use the ferry to commute.

But Lagudis said the move aims to reduce trucks.

“What we tried to say is if you're coming to [Shelter Island] to cut across the island as a bridge … we can’t afford to be taking you across for what we were doing it for,” she said.

Stuessi said the project has other benefits, including more public parking and sidewalks that connect the transit hub from the ferry terminal to the East End Seaport Museum, Railroad Museum, train station and Hampton Jitney stop.

It also has environmental perks, since stormwater infrastructure was added during construction “to capture all of the water runoff before it gets to the bay,” Stuessi said. “That will really help alleviate longtime pollution problems.”

Finishing touches, including landscaping and lighting, are still in progress, the mayor said.