I've committed the code (a one-line change). Now the start() operation does not return until the bridge has actually established both connections. But I'm actually not sure if this is desired, maybe start() should return immediately and the bridge should work on establishing connections on its own in a separate thread?
Yes, I think start() should return immediately and connection creation should occur on a different thread.
Actually this already happens when connections failed so it should be a fairly simple matter of just ensuring that that same code kicks in.