SALISBURY, Md. - The Upper Ferry is finally open after its year long hiatus.
The Upper Ferry in Wicomico County is used by hundreds of drivers a day. Except for the past year because its been out of commission for repairs. And supply chain issues has slowed the process.
Acting Deputy Director of Wicomico Public Works Heather Lankford says, "with a ferry like this, when one function can't work then it sort of snowballs and we have to retro-fit different things. For instance, the pilot house had to come from Canada. it just takes a long time and the patience was greatly appreciated." She went on to say, "it takes a long time to get the parts. They're not just on the shelves like there were pre-Covid. They had to really be made specifically for the ferry and we had to wait for that to be done. It wasn't something that we wanted to risk lives or peoples safety on."
However, drivers still took advantage of opening day.
"It saves us about 20 minutes of driving around the city. It's real convenient. We're real happy. It's nice scenic drive back here," says driver Tim Piasecki.
"Anytime you can save 10 minutes or 15 minutes from a drive, and across this beautiful land is awesome. We're super excited", says Aimee Hairr.
Operator, Mike Dize said today was a slow day as word is still getting out that the ferry is open once again. But, there's no where else he'd rather be.
He says, "I love it being back because I've been away from it for a year and two weeks. To me it's home. I'm from Crisfield. I'm used to water. I love water."
Public Works says the ferry does have a few more parts to be fixed. When they come in, the ferry will be shut down for a day or two but they are not expecting anymore year long hiatuses.