Because of mechanical difficulties, the Whitehaven Ferry will be closed until at least Monday (June 28th) afternoon. The public is asked to call the Ferry Hotline at 410-543-2765 for current information. Wicomico County regrets the inconvenience and thanks ferry users for their patience.
9 comments:
With no money for the usual maintenance, you will be seeing alot more of these messages. Before long, they will have to find the money to have it overhauled, or else pull it out of the water. Don't really see the sense in a set of ferries that serve such a small percentage of the county population, but take such a large chunk of money to operate. I guess it boils down the the "status" of that small percentage of people.
8:45am I strongly disagree with your assessment of a "small percentage of people." Both the Upper Ferry and Whitehaven Ferry continue to be used by many, not just a few. They also help allevate the already congested traffic going thru town. Maybe you don't depend on them but many depend on them for their daily mode of transportation from one side of the county to the other side. I am sorry you have to bring "status" into this. I use it often and I would consider my "status" a grateful citizen the county makes this available.
They should close the ferry , it's always an excuse not to run , too high of a tide, too low of a tide , the wind is blowing too hard , it's too cold . it's not running right , the operator didn't show up etc. , etc. ,etc..
9:05, I respectfully disagree with your assesment. The number of vehicles that was published in the paper that use the ferry support my statement that a very small percentage of the population use the ferry. I also do not believe that anyone should "depend" on the ferry as a mode of transportation. There are too many variables involved in if it will be running. If you look at it in perspective of whether the citizens of the county as a whole would be better served to spend a half million dollars on the ferries, or a half million dollars in other areas of road work/maintenance, I believe that more citizens would be served by the latter.
I for one use the ferry alot. However the new hours are terrible. I would rather see them close on Sunday and run it longer in the evening. Most people cannot get there by 5:30 before it closes. It is suppose to be a convience for the citizens to get from one side to the other and avoid alot of in town traffic but it isn't helping us when it closes early every day. And 10:48, if they don't use the money for the ferry, I am sure Pollitt will thing of some other useless thing to do with the money so why are we trying to eliminate one more thing that has helped the citizens for years and years and years?
5:18, the operation of the ferries comes from the roads department budget, therefore, the money would be better spent on roads maintenance.
The Whitehaven Ferry has been in operation since the late 1600's when it used to be pulled by hand across the Wicomico river joining Somerset county with Wicomico county. I believe Somerset County does bear some of the cost of operating.Many folks depend on this ferry for work and recreational purposes as well as just enjoying a scenic drive . I will agree that it seems to require a little more maintenence then it used to, but that may be affected by operator neglect.The new hours are certainly not of the best interest especially during the summer months.For those of you who want to critize the ferrys operation and feel it's not an asset to the county , and don't even use it, Shame on You!
I agree the ferry system does stink. Yes I do rely on the ferries for travel to the other side of the county or even somerset, but agree that the new hours make it almost impossible for me to utilize. As for a small portion of the population using it - I disagree - When you get to the ferry and have to sit in line for several trips across before you can then obviously somebody is using it. I do believe if the hours were better than more people would use it. But I have to go back to the original statement I ever made and that was if there were a bridge at some location between them then even more people would be willing to use. Normally a bridge doesnt close for tides, staffing or budget cuts
Bridges cost too much!
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