Senator Carl L. Marcellino (R, Syosset), chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, announced his plan to have a joint hearing with the Senate Transportation Committee on the Long Island Sound Tunnel proposal.

The public is invited to attend the hearing to listen to the testimony given by representatives from the NYS DOT, and NYS DEC and the developers in the private sector who have proposed the tunnel.

According to his website (crosssoundlink.com) "Vincent Polimeni [of Centre Island] is the visionary force behind the proposal to create a tunnel beneath the Long Island Sound. A Long Islander who knows full well that thoughtful, strategic thinking is the only means by which our region can protect its future, he has placed his own financial resources into the comprehensive engineering, environmental and community affairs studies required to spark a serious discussion surrounding the merits of this multibillion-dollar undertaking.

"He is joined by his son, Michael Polimeni, vice president of acquisitions for Polimeni International and an emerging veteran of the challenging commercial real estate market here and abroad. Michael Polimeni has assumed the responsibilities of chief of staff for the Cross Sound Link Tunnel, coordinating engineering, communication, government affairs and environmental strategies with the project's team of consultants."

The senator is gathering information on the proposal. According to Kathy Wilson, the senator's communications director, "We have tons of questions about the project. We are gathering information on the proposal to inform and educate the senators on the project and we are inviting experts on traffic patterns, environmental impacts and the like to speak."

The developers predict on their website that they would have from 59,000 to 79,000 cars using the tunnel on a daily basis. What does that do to the portals of the tunnel, at the entrance in Syosset and in Rye, NY?

The tunnel would go underground from the end of Route 135 and head out to the Cold Spring Harbor waters, then go across the Sound but verr to the west so that they stay in New York State for the entire trip. In Rye it will connect to Route 287.

The main difference between this tunnel project and the defeated proposed bridge from Bayville to Rye is that bridge was a government proposal and this is a proposed private project - and with that comes a host of questions. They include: What if the funding ends before the project is completed; who controls the road; will it use state police; who handles emergencies? What about the tolls not going to New York State if the traffic is diverted? The proposed tunnel is 16 miles long - who is in control of the road, the state, or is it to be considered a private road?

Another question relates to property. Typically a landowner owns the property rights under their parcel - in the case of the tunnel, it will go under several jurisdictions as it goes from Jericho Turnpike to the Sound: private property, county roads, and town parks at 110 feet below ground. Therefore the questions to be solved include whether property owners need to be paid for the use of their underground property rights or will the state take it by eminent domain.

Another consideration is the effect of increased traffic on Jericho Turnpike because of all the people going to the tunnel. They are presuming that by the time it comes to fruition, in 2025, cars entering the underground toll booth will be using the Easy-Pass method.

There are a lot of issues to consider and this is the opening gambit for a long process, which includes getting state approval.

"I recognize that there's not a Long Islander who didn't wish one time or another that some type of bridge or tunnel reached across the Sound so they could get home in 15 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half or more. When a project of this magnitude is proposed there are a lot of questions," said Senator Marcellino.

"Does it make sense from a congestion point of view? Would congestion actually increase instead of decreasing? What about local roads and the changing traffic patterns? Does it make sense environmentally, where and how would you vent the tunnel? Is building a tunnel that will make it easier to stay in our cars, really a way to reduce CO2 emissions as claimed? Obviously this proposal needs to be looked at from every angle and this hearing will afford us the opportunity to do just that," said Senator Marcellino.

"Senator Marcellino knows that his constituents have a lot of questions that need to be answered about this project," said Senator Libous, chair of the Transportation Committee. "A tunnel of this magnitude - costing billions of dollars and affecting millions of people - needs to be thought through clearly. And the public deserves to hear firsthand from developers, engineers and transportation experts about how they'll be affected."

The proposed tunnel is approximately 16 miles in length and would extend from Route 135 (Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway) in Syosset, to the intersection of I-287 and I-95 in Rye, NY. The project would be funded by the private sector and cost approximately $10 billion. The toll is estimated at $25 dollars each way in today's dollars with trucks paying more.

The tunnel is expected to carry between 59,000 and 79,000 vehicles per day when it is completed in 2025. According to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority annual average daily traffic in 2006 using the Queens Midtown Tunnel was 79,359.

"This is a serious proposal by serious people. It must be fully reviewed before we change the landscape of Long Island forever," concluded Senator Marcellino.

The hearing is scheduled for the end of January. They are waiting for the legislative calendar to come out before they set the date to see when the legislators will be available. Testimony is by invitation only. It is not a public forum but a place for the facts to be presented. The hearing will be held on Long Island. You can call the senator's office for dates and time and for information at 922-1811.

(Dagmar Fors Karppi added to this article.)