38° CLEAR, Ferry at Fort Fisher to shut down in December and January
Last Modified: Monday, October 13, 2008 at 4:17 p.m.
Beginning Dec. 1, the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry will be shut down for about two months as a contractor rehabilitates ramps at both ends of the route.
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That means commuters who regularly use the ferry for transportation between New Hanover and Brunswick counties will have to find another means of transportation. Ferry Division spokeswoman Lucy Wallace said commuters who hold annual passes will have their passes extended for two months after the work is complete.
T.A. Loving Co. will do the work under an $850,000 contract with the N.C. Department of Transportation, of which the Ferry Division is a part.
According to the contract, the work must be complete by Jan. 31. The DOT chose December and January because ridership is at its lowest levels of the year.
Wayne Currie, DOT resident engineer, said the work involves minor repairs to the ramps at Southport and Fort Fisher.
“It’s mostly just a maintenance rehabilitation type of project … just basically painting and structural maintenance,” Currie said.
Kathy Shallcross, lead worker at the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry, said about 150 to 200 Cape Fear-area residents use the ferry regularly to commute to work. With the ferry not in operation, Pleasure Island residents who commute to Brunswick County will have to drive northward through New Hanover County, then cross one of the bridges into Brunswick County and proceed down to their destination.
Although December and January are slower months, the ferries still carry significant numbers of passengers in the winter. In December 2007, the Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry transported 7,622 vehicles and 15,576 passengers, according to ferry division statistics. In January, the ferry carried 7,837 cars and 14,390 people, according to Ferry Division statistics.
The Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry takes passengers on a 35-minute ride across the Cape Fear River.
Patrick Gannon: 343-2328
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Comments
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October 14, 2008 5:28:19 am
Almost a million bucks for painting and maintenance....and you need 2 months to get it done? I'll do it by myself for half the money and in half the time.
October 14, 2008 6:41:00 am
This is absolutely remarkable, I agree.
I am a big fan of ferries, and that one in particular. But I have to wonder that with the numbers given, and if it can be done without for two months, is it really a good investment of our tax dollars? The ridership numbers given, multiplied by the $5/car fare, can't possibly support the salaries and fuel needed to move the boats every day, much less any of the infrastructure and maintenance like this ridiculous two-month project. I feel kind of disloyal to something I enjoy so much, but I would like to know how much in the red the ferries are, and how the continued operation of some of these discretionary runs - the ones that are just really nice rides, for example, and serve a handful of commuters who can drive around with only slightly more time and expense - can be justified? I seem to remember hearing stuff lately about DOT not having enough money to do things that are clearly needed and justified - maybe this hobby needs to be privatized or otherwise removed from the public trough.
October 15, 2008 5:05:15 am
Once again, only half the story is being reported.
Seems the NC DOT ferry office has sunk an outrageous amount of money into a "dock tending" vessel dubbed SKYCO. Now it's time to prove her worth by sending the 135-foot vessel and state-paid crew around to various ferry sites for scheduled maintenance and upgrade projects - in state lingo that's called "financial justification of a capital expenditure".
Quoting the state's own press release (obviously on the floor, behind the Star-News' fax machine):
Excuse me? The state sinks how much into their first boat-building project only to contract the dolphin replacement and ramp repairs to an outside (Goldsboro) vendor?
Now how on earth does that happen Reporter Gannon?
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