Peconic Bay ferry system study approved to bypass East End traffic

Suffolk County will study the possibility of a Peconic Bay ferry system as a watery workaround to East End traffic jams caused by summer tourism, the fall harvest and the daily "trade parade" of construction workers from points west.

The planned report, approved Thursday by the regional transportation board, will look at a passenger ferry system between Riverhead, North Sea, Sag Harbor, Greenport, Orient and Montauk, weigh the benefits of a public versus private operation and consider the potential for "amphibious buses."

"We don’t want to leave any stone unturned," Elissa Picca, Suffolk County deputy planning commissioner, said at a meeting of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. "Maybe there's a way we can have a [ferry] service that some people will use instead of taking their autos."

The news was met with interest, if surprise, from East End officials.

Riverhead Supervisor Jerry Halpin said he hadn’t considered the concept of a ferry from Riverhead, but said he would be "all ears" to the study’s results.

"If it helps commerce and it helps lessen the traffic and it actually doesn’t hurt the environment, it would be something that would be fun to talk about," he said in an interview.

Under the $156,250 study, surveys are planned for residents, municipalities, harbor masters, existing ferry operators, transit providers, local fishermen, shellfish growers and business groups.

Connectivity with the bus system and overnight parking for construction contractors will be considered, as will potential terminal sites.

East Hampton spokesman Patrick Derenze said the town had not been briefed on a potential study but added that ferries are an "interesting concept," especially if they help reduce traffic snarls near the Shinnecock canal.

Currently, taking ferries between the Twin Forks is a multistep process: to reach Greenport from Sag Harbor, passengers must take the South Ferry from North Haven to Shelter Island, disembark and travel about four miles to the North Ferry in Shelter Island Heights.

Past proposals to expand ferry service have run into obstacles regarding where to locate terminals.

A 2005 NYMTC study identified potential landing sites and routes, but its recommendations were walked back following resistance from East Hampton Town, according to a history attached to the new plan.

The Hampton Jitney piloted a ferry service linking Greenport and Sag Harbor villages in 2012. The company sought to revive it in 2022, but despite obtaining a ferry license from Suffolk County, disputes over docking facilities and costs put the proposal on hold.

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Thomas Gardella called the Hampton Jitney ferry "great. I didn’t have to park, I didn’t have to worry about traffic."

He said the new study is "a good idea," adding, "it’s just a matter of working out the logistics of it, the docking situation."

Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi said passenger ferries that allow people to commute are a "fantastic" idea, but also said docking will be a challenge.

Picca, from the county, acknowledged the potential pitfalls.

"How are you going to get people on and off the ferry, and where is that going to take place? And is that going to interrupt a village, a community? This should be to foster mobility, so we have to find that right balance," she said.

The study is expected to start late this year, and not be completed until 2028, according to Suffolk County spokesman Michael Martino.

"We continue to explore all travel alternatives to ease the traffic that continues to make it incredibly difficult for those driving on the East End," County Executive Edward P. Romaine, in a statement.

The plan says it will ensure concerns related to noise, traffic, and environmental impacts "are heard from the beginning."

The Peconic Bay study was one of more than a dozen on Long Island with a total price-tag of $4.5 million approved in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council’s annual budget, which passed unanimously. The board is made up of officials from Suffolk and Nassau Counties, the state, New York City and the Lower Hudson region.

In Suffolk, studies will evaluate redesigning the Huntington Area Rapid Transit system, similar to how Suffolk County Transit redesigned its system a few years ago, reducing truck traffic by increasing freight rail, evaluating coastal evacuation routes, and improving traffic safety in Selden and Farmingville.

Nassau’s studies include optimizing coordination of traffic signals, reducing congestion on the Queens-Nassau border, a bicycle path in Lido Beach, and better utilizing nonvehicular modes of transportation.