[StBernard] "High-speed" ferries considered, but bridge tolls must float first

[Westley Annis]

"High-speed" ferries considered, but bridge tolls must float first
	 Reported by: Rob Masson, Reporter 
Email: rmasson at fox8tv.net 
Last Update: 1/25 6:40 pm

			
Council calls for revamp of ferry system

High-speed ferries could replace old ferries on the Mississippi River, but
tolls would remain on the Crescent City Connection. (John Snell)
A committee of the New Orleans City Council approved a resolution Tuesday
calling for an extension of tolls on the Crescent City Connection set to
expire next year. 

The plan calls for a complete revamp of the ferry system to speed travelers
from, perhaps, as far as Kenner to Chalmette at up to 30 miles per hour.

If nothing is done by the end of next year, the three ferries that operate
in the New Orleans area could become the latest victims of the rebuilding
effort following Hurricane Katrina

"It's like everything else, you don't miss it until it's gone," said City
Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell.

The ferries, which cost $8 million a year to operate, are expected to be
discontinued if the legislature allows tolls on the Crescent City Connection
to expire at the end of 2012.

"No one is even looking at alternatives," said Fay Ferren, with the group
Friends of the Ferry.

Her group proposed purchasing two new high-speed ferries, capable of speeds
of up to 30 miles per hour. Similar ferries were recently built and sent to
Cozumel, Mexico, from Mid Ship Marine in Marrero. The current ferries travel
at about four miles per hour.

Ferren says new ferries could connect passengers anywhere from Chalmette to
Rivertown in Kenner, and she believes the system can only happen if tolls
are extended.

"Everyone in the region wants to make this happen. We've got regional
planning, and that's what's going to make this happen," Ferren said.

The proposal got an early thumbs up from the city council's transportation
committee.

"I do think we have to look at it. A viable option is not to lose our
ferries," said committee Chairwoman Kristen Gisleson Palmer.

The proposal sounds good to some. Officials would sell off old ferries and
buy new ones to speed the cross river trip, but extending bridge tolls is a
thorny issue.

Toll opponents, like state Representative Pat Connick, R-Harvey, say they
are against any extension of the tolls on the backs of West Bank commuters.
Connick adds the Crescent City Connection has mismanaged for years.

The Friends of the Ferry would like to use the toll money to keep one old
ferry, and add two more.

"If the tolls aren't extended, we have to start from square one," Ferren
said. And that may just happen, because for now no one has stepped up in the
legislature to propose extending tolls in a tough economy. 

Connick says the Bureau of Governmental Research has agreed to study the
toll extension issue and issue a report in time for the regular session of
the legislature, which begins in March.