WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. -- Drivers woke up to a nice surprise on Thursday morning: the Upper Ferry was back in action, carrying passengers across the Wicomico River. The ferry was taken out of service in June of last year for what officials called a "complete overhaul."
Jay Prouse was the very first person to roll his car on the ferry and take advantage of the revived service.
"Super glad to have the ferry open again," said Prouse.
Earl Holland was the second.
"It is good to have the Upper Ferry back open," said Holland.
A big reason both of them are so happy? Their commutes to work just got a whole lot easier.
"Normally, this is a shorter trip than it would be going to the Whitehaven Ferry," said Holland. "We've been doing that for the past six months on and off."
As for why neighbors had to wait this long, well, there are a few reasons. For starters, a contractor hired by the county had a laundry list of upgrades to make.
"Generally speaking, the ferry has to be retrofitted every so often, and this one included a pretty large list of what it needed," said Adam Corry, Acting Public Works Director.
That list included engine and transmission maintenance, painting, deck resurfacing and pilot house work. The winch system, which raises a wire that runs across the river and allows boats pass through, also had to be refurbished.
"That was one of the big points that we wanted to make sure was taken care of during this particular retrofit," said Corry.
Completing that work, of course, took time. Still, the repairs were scheduled to wrap up in time for the ferry to get back in the water weeks ago, but Corry said parts got delayed, and then the Wicomico River froze over.
"We could have potentially splashed it prior to the ice, but there was just enough ice starting to form on the edge of the splash zone that we would've risked tearing up our new bottom paint, tearing up the propeller shaft," said Corry. "It just wasn't worth the risk when you've put that much money, time and effort into making sure the ferry is right."
Well, the months-long delay is now officially over.
"I couldn't believe it, like Christmas morning," said Prouse.
Corry said the contractor who worked on the ferry still has to make a few tweaks. To be clear, the ferry is safe to ride, but Corry said it will be taken out of the water for one more day in the coming weeks.
On that note, Corry said the county is exploring ferry rotation. Right now, the Upper Ferry and Whitehaven Ferry use different ramps and cable systems, so if one goes down, the other can't take its place.
"What would it take to make our ramp sides, our winch systems and cable systems and ferries themselves close enough to each other that you could literally rotate them in and out like you're substituting players on a soccer field?" asked Corry.
He said that question should be answered through a feasibility study included in this year's budget.