Yes. I've bitched about it extensively in other threads

I build my cities as long strings specifically to abuse that, it allows my armies to travel across a good chunk of the map near my cities much faster.

edit: Also it's not 8 for a max city, it's more like 13-14, more with careful placement.

Sounds like magic to me

Failing that, some sort of structure to 'bridge' the gap between the two land masses, I would call it a 'structure between places' but I am sure there may be a simpler name for it.