LEWES, De. - The Cape May-Lewes Ferry shuttles hundreds of people across the Delaware Bay everyday, but in just a few short years, the vessels you travel on could look a little different.
What those vessels will look like still remain unclear, and will likely remain that way until sometime later this year after the first phase of the Delaware River and Bay Authority's study is completed. The DRBA is moving full steam ahead to update the master plan for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry in conjunction with Seattle, WA based Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), LLC.
"The study is designed to provide a design for the fleet. So part of what they'll be looking at is how many vessels, what sizes, what speeds. I anticipate it would be more than 1 vessel would become part of the final plan, but a lot of that is yet to be determined," explained Heath Gehrke, Director of Ferry Operations. "This is a little bit of a different kind of study...because it's a study based specifically on the new vessels. We do of course, constantly access the operations, safety, that sort of things that's kind of routine. This is more of a once every 5 years look at where do we want to be. And the design of the vessels really needs to accommodate future needs for decades to come."
The last time a study was conducted on the ferry was back in 2008. Gehrke says the hope is to have more efficient and eco-friendly boats on the water in a few years time.
"In the Delaware Bay where we operate, shallow waters. We know what the capacities need to be going forward. We are looking for design criteria that is sustainable, in other words efficient, and provides green technology," said Gehrke. "If that report yields results that we think we can build upon, we'll begin the design process early in 2022. That keeps being refined until we would begin construction and right now the funding is in place to begin construction by the end of 2024, with the majority of the work happening 2025."
Neighboring restaurant Grain on the Rocks opened just last year, and General Manager Jason Miesner says he is happy to see long term planning for the success of the ferry, and what it could mean for business.
"With them thinking 5, 10 years down the road about expanding their fleet, and expanding their offerings and opportunities - we're very like minded in that regard. So we can't wait to see what it brings to the table and obviously brings to the Lewes ferry and Grain on the Rocks," Miesner told us.
But others say it's a great experience as it is.
"For the one time of year that I do it, I think it's great - I think it's great they want to invest in it and improve their product, but I enjoy it just the way it is," said Adam Taylor before boarding the ferry.
The project from start to finish won't be completed for at least five years, so passengers won't see any changes anytime soon, but the ferry website will keep updates on how the project is progressing.