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New York developer Vincent Polimeni wants to connect Long Island and Westchester County with a 16-mile tunnel running between Oyster Bay and Rye under the Long Island Sound. His plan calls for the estimated $10 billion dollar project to be privately funded, with advertising and $25 tolls in each direction recovering the development costs once the tunnel opens. If ultimately approved and completed, it would consist of two 3-lane tubes plus a center maintenance/emergency access tunnel. While Oyster Bay's town supervisor, who initially called the idea "unrealistic," is waiting to see more information before passing final judgement, Westchester County officials are very opposed to the project, saying that it would transform existing traffic conditions from merely bad to completely unmanageable. Realistically, it's very hard to see this ever getting past the discussion stage, even though the idea's an interesting one. Currently, there's a ferry service between Port Jefferson, Long Island and Bridgeport, CT, where passengers can then jump on I-95 (and sit in that traffic) or transfer to commuter rail into NYC.

UPDATE: Toll Roads News has a more detailed feature than the AP report we found initially. It includes more information about the exact tunnel route, etc. The official website for the project, dubbed the Cross Sound Link, can be found here.

[Source: AP]