Musings: Bridge ideas threaten Long Island identity
A 1965 rendering shows a proposed bridge across Long Island Sound from Oyster Bay to Rye in Westchester County. The 6.1-mile crossing was to be a cable-stayed suspension bridge. Credit: MTA Bridges and Tunnels Special Archive
An effort to transform Long Island’s unique identity seems to be a recurring concept that would alter the nature of our island. Stretching over 118 miles, Long Island is the largest and longest island in the United States. To alleviate traffic and congestion, proposals — such as one pondered last week — have been suggested to construct bridges across and tunnels through Long Island Sound to the Connecticut coast.
In theory, this idea that has been circulating for several decades seems plausible until you look at the collateral damage it would generate.
In 1966, on a beautiful summer morning in Wading River, except for perhaps a few squawking gulls, the day appeared uneventful. Amid the rhythmic pulse of the waves pounding the Herod Point shoreline, that all changed when a rubber Zodiac craft meandered to the shore and two men exited it, holding an array of surveying equipment. They were civil bridge engineers taking measurements and mapping terrain and soil stability for a possible bridge to New Haven.
To say the least, members of that community were devastated at the thought of possibly losing their homes and lifestyle. This idea nevertheless has continued circulating among Suffolk and Nassau county officials looking for ways to ease traffic and make it easier to both enter and leave Long Island.
If ever approved, the environmental impact would be tremendous. Roadways designed to enter the bridge would obliterate neighborhoods, forcing residents to find new homes. Marine life would be compromised, threatening our already dwindling supply of aquatic species.
The potential impact of such a bridge would totally change the nature of our island, home to nearly 3 million people in both counties.
So, construction of a bridge to Connecticut from whichever hamlet is chosen would create more turmoil and traffic problems than we already have. Most important, our unique geographical location would be severely compromised. The sense of living on an island would vanish over time. We would simply become a terminal for many looking for a faster way to travel. The entire nature of the concept is troubling.
— Jason E. Hill, Ridge
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