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December 3, 2009

Some fear cutback of ferry service in bridge recovery

By LOHR McKINSTRY

CROWN POINT — Lake Champlain Transportation officials said Thursday that a decision hasn’t been made on whether to close the Essex Ferry when the new Crown Point Ferry opens.

Lake Champlain Transportation Co. Operations Manager Heather Stewart said the logistics of adding a ferry crossing at Crown Point are still being worked out.

“It is premature. We are in discussions with the state of Vermont.”

She said there is good news — on Monday, Dec. 28, the Essex-Charlotte, Vt., Ferry will go to 24-hour operations. That will assist residents who work second and third shifts on the other side of the lake, she said.

New workers are being hired now, Stewart said, and will undergo training to be ready by that date. The Essex Ferry now makes its last run to Vermont at 9:30 p.m.



FAST RIDE

Roads and docks for the new Crown Point Ferry are under construction now on both sides of the lake, but Stewart said she doesn’t have an opening date yet.

She said recent ferry trials conducted at the Crown Point-Addison, Vt., crossing had a travel time of only three minutes.

The 80-year-old Champlain Bridge between Crown Point and Addison, Vt., was closed Oct. 16, after engineers determined it was unsafe. A new bridge is planned, and a temporary ferry near the old bridge will be financed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and New York State Department of Transportation.



SUBSIDY TO END

Vermont Agency of Transportation Outreach Director John Zicconi said that when the new ferry opens, the states will no longer subsidize the Essex Ferry and the independent Ticonderoga-Shoreham, Vt., Ferry.

Operators of the Ticonderoga Ferry say they plan to close for the season once the Crown Point Ferry starts, if the weather cooperates that long.

WORRIED ABOUT TIMING

Willsboro resident Rebecca Palmer said she’s so concerned about the possibility of the Essex crossing closing that she’s designed flyers and has been passing them out at the ferry landings.

“The clock is ticking. The commuters and citizens of the area on both sides of the lake have to take a proactive approach in reaching out to DOT and VTrans to ask them, when granting LCT the contract for the Crown Point ferry crossing, they stipulate that LCT must keep the Essex-Charlotte ferry crossing open year round.”



ENCOURAGED TO STAY

Zicconi said the Essex Ferry is not scheduled to close when the Crown Point Ferry begins.

“It is a private business. They may run all winter; they may not. We have expressed the desire to them that they not close anything right away.

“When we open the ferry at the bridge, we expect all the traffic that used the bridge to go there. I don’t make any assumptions that anyone is going to change their habits in a flash.”

The Essex Ferry normally shuts down in winter from time to time, he said, due to weather conditions or lack of ridership.

‘LIFELINE’

Gov. David Paterson’s spokesman, Morgan Hook, said Thursday that the governor has made it clear to DOT that he wants the new ferry operating by the end of the year.

“We expect the new ferry to be open by Dec. 31. The governor will make sure there’s ferry service. It’s a lifeline. People will not lose it.”



BRIDGE DEMOLITION

Meanwhile, Federal Highway Administration approval to demolish the Champlain Bridge is expected early next week, according to DOT spokeswoman Deborah Sturm Rausch.

She said the federal agency is expected to sign off on the plan by Monday, the day the project’s prime contractor, Harrison and Burrowes of Glenmont, will be taking bids from subcontractors.

A subcontractor to set off the controlled explosions, which will demolish most sections of the 2,184-foot bridge, will be selected Wednesday, with crews expected to start preparations soon after.

A date for the demolition hasn’t been set, but the request for proposals said it should be done around Jan. 1.



E-mail Lohr McKinstry at:

lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com

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