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New Haven Eyes Barge Service Again: City Gauges State Backing For Project As Bri PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 18 January 2008 13:37
Source: The Hartford Courant, Connecticut
Publication date: 2008-01-18


Jan. 18--As the Bridgeport Port Authority struggles to set up container barge service, New Haven, its coastal neighbor, is mounting an aggressive new effort to do it first -- and maybe instead.

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n 2003, Bridgeport beat out New Haven for $1.5 million in state money to start the service, in which barges would ferry cargo containers across Long Island Sound from New Jersey's much larger port.

Then as now, the goals were to relieve congestion on Connecticut highways by minimizing tractor-trailer trips and to spur new economic activity.

But port officials in Bridgeport have so far failed to find sufficient operators or facilities, and local political support has weakened. Mayor Bill Finch, who advocated the project as a state senator, now says residential and commercial development should have priority at the harbor.

'It's just not a good fit in Bridgeport anymore,'Finch said. 'And since New Haven really wanted this, let them have it.'

But Bridgeport's port director, Joseph Riccio, said he doesn't think demand would support feeder-barge services in both New Haven and Bridgeport, and he's not giving up.

'The Port Authority is an independent, quasi-public agency,'he said. 'We understand that the mayor is opposed to it. He was in favor of it a couple of years ago.'

New Haven has not yet persuaded state officials that its proposal is more likely to succeed.

New Haven officials came to Hartford Thursday to gauge support for their effort from the state Transportation Strategy Board. They left with encouragement to put together a business plan, but no pledge of financial support.

Michael Piscitelli, New Haven's transportation director, declined to say how much money the city would seek from the state. Five years ago, the city said it would need about $5 million.

Piscitelli and New Haven Port Authority Chairman John Russo nevertheless portrayed the board's response as good news.

'We're back on the agenda,'Russo said, adding that he understood the board's decision not to offer money right away. 'It didn't work in Bridgeport. Why should they just throw money at New Haven?'

Expanding water-borne cargo operations at Connecticut ports to generate jobs and reduce truck traffic, on I-95 in particular, has been a state goal for more than a decade. New London has also studied the idea.

New Haven has kept its eye on Bridgeport and has been preparing to step into the breach. Its port authority, established in 2003, has been encouraging businesses to redevelop the city's waterfront, including warehouses and rail lines, and to expand other necessary facilities inland.

The transportation board's frustration with Bridgeport's lack of progress appears to bode well for New Haven. A year ago, the board told legislators the time had come to consider feeder-barge services from ports 'other than Bridgeport.'

New Haven says it already has most of the infrastructure it would need to pull off container barge-feeder service, as well as a rail link and a prime location at the intersection of I-95 and I-91. The city may try to deepen its 35-foot-deep navigation channel. Mayor John DeStefano supports the barge-feeder project.
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