Ferry replaces demolished bridge

At 5 a.m. on Feb. 1, Governor Jim Douglas ’72 boarded the first ferry to travel between Addison, Vt. and Crown Point, NY in over 80 years. The Governor’s 10-minute trip marked the beginning of a new 24-hour ferry service that will replace the demolished Champlain Bridge until a new bridge opens in approximately a year and a half.

Before Feb. 1, anyone traveling from Addison to Crown Point had to make a 40-mile detour since the Champlain Bridge was deemed unsafe in Oct. 2009. There is no charge for the new ferry service, which disembarks from Vermont every 30 minutes and will run even in cold weather.

The Oct. 16 decision to close the Champlain Bridge and its subsequent demolition in December came as a surprise to officials who expected the 80-year-old bridge to remain usable until at least 2013.

Vermont and New York shared ownership of the Champlain Bridge and have subsequently agreed to split the costs of both the ferry service and the replacement bridge.

On Jan. 14, Governor Douglas and Governor David Paterson of New York announced that they had chosen a design for a replacement bridge. Construction on the new bridge will begin in the spring.

Lisa Cloutier, an Addison restaurant owner, was aboard the 5 a.m. ferry with Governor Douglas. Cloutier was losing so much business as a result of the bridge closure that she decided to close her restaurant until ferry service began.

Cloutier is a member of the newly formed Lake Champlain Bridge Coalition, an advocacy group composed of approximately 20 business owners on either side of the lake.

She used to call her restaurant the “Bridge Restaurant,” in honor of the Champlain Bridge, which began service in 1929. On Feb. 3, Cloutier reopened her restaurant as the "No Bridge Restaurant,” with a sign outside that read, “Welcome back, NY!”

Over 1,700 vehicles used the ferry service on the day it opened, causing waits of up to three hours. Cloutier was optimistic that the service would improve, explaining, “It’s only day one. There hasn’t been a ferry in here for 80 years.”

Jim Harris, the project manager that Governor Douglas appointed to oversee the implementation of the ferry service, explained that although 1,918 vehicles used the ferries on Feb. 4, waits had in fact decreased dramatically.

Another member of the Lake Champlain Bridge Coalition, Lorraine Franklin, was also happy to have the ferry service up and running. However, Franklin insisted, “We need the new bridge,” and described ferry service as a “Band-Aid.”

Harris predicted that the ferry service will become even more efficient in two or three weeks once both New York and Vermont complete construction on lifts that will allow two ferries to operate at once. These new lifts will also allow officials to increase the weight limit on vehicles from 15 tons to 40 tons.

Claire Ayer ’92, a state senator representing Addison County, was disappointed that “there were still lines of traffic to go through” as recently as Feb. 6. She agreed with Harris that traffic should improve once the new lifts open.

Ayer is one of three Addison County state senators that co-sponsored a Jan. 5 bill to appropriate $1 million of federal stimulus money to businesses and nonprofits affected by the bridge closure. The bill would allocate aid to businesses like the No Bridge Restaurant through a combination of grants and low-interest loans.

Governor Douglas, who is also a resident of Addison County, has also voiced support for allocating stimulus money to Addison County businesses.

However, Ayer explained that the bill has not received much legislative support in part because many state legislators believe the proposal to offer grants to businesses sets an unsustainable precedent.

Ayer was sensitive to this argument against her bill and added that the economic recession has made these types of decisions especially difficult.

Ayer said that the “Addison County delegation will continue to argue its case,” but also predicted that the process of getting funds allocated to affected businesses would take at least another six months.

Business owners like Franklin, the owner of the West Addison General Store, do not expect to receive stimulus money any time soon. “It will be next year, if we see anything,” said Franklin, who estimates that she lost 65 percent of her business over the past three months.

Despite Ayer’s frustration with the situation arising from the unanticipated closure of the Champlain Bridge, she remains optimistic that the replacement bridge will be good for both sides of the lake.

“I rode my bike across the old bridge once, and if I could have swum back, I would have. There just wasn’t enough room,” she said. “I could see people camping in New York and riding their bikes to go to Chimney Point across the new bridge.”

Construction of the new bridge could cost over $100 million. Project manager Harris estimated that the overhead cost of the ferry service will be about $10 million, with an additional cost of $10 for every vehicle that uses the ferry service.

Harris explained that the costs of both the replacement bridge and the ferry service qualify for funding through Vermont’s allocation of federal highway money. Senator Ayer added that this exceptional use of federal money may delay other infrastructure projects in Vermont.

Vermont and New York contracted the Lake Champlain Transportation Corporation to run the ferry service. Updates about service can be found on the company’s Web site.