Editorial: Island should have say in Sag Harbor-Greenport ferry plan

When we first learned about a proposal to connect Sag Harbor to Greenport via passenger-only water taxi, our initial instinct was that such a plan would be a bad thing for Shelter Island businesses.

Sure, it would be nice to cut down on all the cars driving up Route 114 from one ferry to the other as they hop forks. Especially during peak times on the Island.

But wouldn’t that be a bad thing for the ferries? And what about all the businesses along the way who benefit from the added foot traffic?

Then reporter Jennifer Gustavson reached out to both the South and North ferry companies and found they weren’t too concerned.

“If we can connect people to another transportation connection, then that’s a plus for us,” said North Ferry general manager Bridge Hunt of the added bonus of people being able to go from Greenport straight to Sag Harbor. “We’ll do our thing. They are going to do their thing … One more transportation connection is a win-win.”

Well what about the South Ferry? They don’t connect to Greenport.

“It may cause people that would never go to Sag Harbor to discover a new community,” he said. “I know [the men proposing the water taxi plan] will do a good job.”

In fact, Mr. Clark said he first proposed linking Greenport Village and Sag Harbor Village about 12 years ago, but the Village of Sag Harbor’s reluctance to get into the ferry business killed his plans.

Now it appears Sag Harbor is willing to play ball, and they’ve taken the important first step of hosting a public hearing next month. Greenport already held a hearing last week. This water taxi plan is becoming a very real possibility.

The plan, proposed by Jim Ryan of Response Marine and Hampton Jitney president Geoffrey Lynch, would include shuttle bus service to and from the water taxis. The 35-minute boat ride between the two forks would hug the western shoreline of Shelter Island.

One-way tickets would cost $11 and round-trips $20.

We encourage you to have your voice heard as these plans make their way through the two villages.

The road from the eastern points of the South Fork to the North Fork passes through Shelter Island, whether we like it or not.

Let’s make sure we play a role in any decision to change that.