Tunnel to Westchester abandoned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration

Show Caption Hide Caption Andrew Cuomo says Westchester-to-Long Island tunnel is 'feasible' Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state Department of Transportation has determined a potential tunnel through the Long Island Sound is "feasible" during his State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2017, in Albany.

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration abruptly dropped its plan Thursday to pursue a tunnel from Westchester County to Long Island despite drawing interest from major developers.

Paul Karas, the state's acting transportation commissioner, issued a statement confirming the state Department of Transportation would not move ahead with its plans for the tunnel, which a state-funded study found would have cost up to $55 billion to construct.

Karas did not elaborate on why the administration was abandoning the tunnel plan, which Cuomo himself had repeatedly touted.

"After a careful review of a variety of considerations pertaining to the project, NYSDOT has decided not to move forward with it at this time," Karas said in a statement.

Decades-old idea

Cuomo resurrected the decades-old idea of linking Long Island to Westchester, Connecticut or the Bronx via a bridge or tunnel across the Long Island Sound in 2016, pledging to fund a feasibility study in his State of the State address that year.

In January, the Department of Transportation released the completed study, which found an 18-mile tunnel from Long Island to Rye or Port Chester in Westchester County is technically feasible but would carry a hefty price tag of anywhere from $31.5 billion to $55.4 billion.

Read: New York's tunnel feasibility study

"It would be underwater," Cuomo, who is seeking re-election this year, said in his 2018 State of the State in January.

"It would be invisible. It would reduce traffic on the impossible congested Long Island Expressway and would offer potential significant private investment."

Cuomo's administration wasn't deterred by the cost estimate, moving ahead by issuing a request for information from developers interested in building the project and honing in on a Westchester-to-Long Island option.

In April, six teams of developers and investment bankers responded to the request, including major companies like AECOM, Skanska and Meridiam; the Lane Construction Corporation and the Macquarie Group.

Reverse course

By Thursday, however, the Cuomo administration reversed course in the face of significant local opposition on Long Island and in Westchester, where local government officials have long expressed concern about the impact on local traffic patterns, particularly on I-287 in Westchester.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said he was pleased with state's decision.

He said there was significant concern among residents along the shoreline about the impact, as well as it leading to increased traffic throughout the county.

"I think it is good news," Latimer said. "There was not much support for it in Westchester County."

Karas' statement was first reported by Newsday.

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