The sizable cost of a new bridge, concerns over an endangered bird species that lives on the beach and a lack of interest from most lawmakers have hindered the project.

So for the last six years, sunbathers and families have crowded onto other shoreline beaches while 64 acres of publicly owned land, within view of Bridgeport and Stratford, literally goes to the birds.

--This is a vital piece of waterfront property. It�s just outrageous that nobody can get to it,'' said state Sen. George `Doc� Gunther, R-Stratford.

Popular Place

Many Connecticut residents have fond childhood memories of the popular Pleasure Beach amusement park, which dated to the late 1800s. In its heyday, the park included a roller coaster, carousel, bumper cars, a saltwater swimming pool, a theater and a ballroom that drew big names in music, such as Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey.

As attendance at Pleasure Beach dwindled after the amusement park closed in 1966, Bridgeport considered selling the property to private buyers or the state. Instead, the city added a new pier in 1987 and a pavilion in 1996, which was completed just before the bridge fire and was never used.

Today, the empty beach stretches for more than a mile around the perimeter of the peninsula. Tall weeds grow through cracks in the pavement on the main road, while breezes blow through the empty bathhouse and concession stands.

A new bridge or causeway is estimated to cost $9 million to $26 million, depending on the design and location. This does not include the cost of cleaning up and monitoring the beach if it were reopened.

Bridgeport, which owns the Pleasure Beach area on the southwestern portion of the peninsula, does not have the money to build a new bridge. Nor does Stratford, which owns Long Beach West on the peninsula's northeastern portion, on which about 45 cottages once sat. The town is in an expensive court fight to try to evict about a dozen remaining cottage owners, who sued after their leases on the town-owned land were canceled in 1997.

And the state? No deep pockets for a new bridge there, either, and a lukewarm reception to the idea as a whole.

`There�s nothing out there other than those cottages,� said state Rep. Jacqueline Cocco, D-Bridgeport, co-chairwoman of the legislature's transportation committee.``Until there�s something out there, why spend the money necessary for a bridge when we're already struggling in this economy as it is?'' she asked. A combination of $20 million in state and federal funds had been promised in 1994 to replace the old bridge to Pleasure Beach before it burned, but the state Department of Transportation canceled the funding in 1995.

Gunther has been trying ever since to secure state funds to replace the bridge.

But even in good economic times, the proposal `just didn�t sell�� at the Capitol with anyone other than its most ardent supporters, said state Sen. Biagio `Billy� Ciotto, D-Wethersfield, co-chairman of the transportation committee.

`Every year it comes up, and every year it goes down the drain or into the ocean, so to speak,' Ciotto said.

A few years ago, it looked like a bridge might not be needed after all. A $25,000 grant was set aside in 1999 from the Long Island Sound specialty license plate fund to create a water taxi to run between Bridgeport and Pleasure Beach.

But the money was later redirected to other projects after Bridgeport realized it could not afford to run the service even if the state provided the start-up money.

Birds And Sunbathers

The few people who venture to Pleasure Beach and Long Beach West usually come by boat, but docks are scarce.

So the piping plover, an endangered bird species, has taken advantage of the lack of humans and begun to proliferate on the peninsula. The plovers are more established on the Stratford portion of the peninsula. But they have also started laying eggs recently on Pleasure Beach, where state and federal wildlife officials carefully rope off their habitat.

Some local officials hope a plan can be reached that allows public access while complying with regulations that protect the plovers. `I don�t think any of us want to see endangered species harmed, of course. But we also want humans to be able to enjoy it,' said Jennifer Hillgen, a Stratford Town Council member. Bill Kolodnicki, manager of the nearby Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, said passive-use recreation, such as swimming and hiking, has co-existed with piping plovers very successfully elsewhere.

`The birds don�t take over the whole beach. That�s not the way it happens,' he said.

The lack of a bridge to Pleasure Beach offers environmental advantages because it prevents vehicles from coming onto the peninsula. But another type of access, by ferry, for example, would let people enjoy the land with less impact on the wildlife, Kolodnicki said.

Supporters of replacing the bridge, such as Morgan Kaolian, a former traffic reporter for WICC-AM, which has two towers on the peninsula, say it is ridiculous to have a publicly owned site that is inaccessible to residents and tourists. `It�s a people�s park, and we�re going to lose it to the piping plovers if we don't use it,' Kaolian said.