DOT Looking For Ideas to Help Ferries

Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker pledged Thursday to do all he could to help find a way to make the Chester-Hadlyme, Glastonbury-Rocky Hill ferries a permanent part of Connecticut’s landscape.

During an informational meeting at the Chester Meeting House hosted by the state’s Department of Transportation, Redeker said it has become obvious that the ancient mode of crossing the Connecticut River is an emotional issue to many in the state.

During the height of the recent debate about closing the ferries, Redeker said, his office received 800 emails in opposition and five emails in favor of the plan.

“That was a rather clear opinion,” he said.

The ferries are safe for the next two years under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget, which was reimplemented this past week after the state’s labor unions approved a $1.6 billion concession deal. The ferries were among the cuts the governor’s office had proposed when the unions earlier this summer rejected the deal.

The plan to eliminate the ferries was vehemently opposed by residents throughout the region, who formed a grassroots lobbying group to convince Malloy to reverse the decision.

Residents at Thursday’s meeting echoed concerns that while the ferries are safe for the next two years, they have been on the state budget chopping block before and could be again.

“Will we all be here again in two years singing our ferry songs and wearing our T-shirts,” asked one member of the Save the Ferries group, whose members wear matching T-shirts.

Redecker said his agency wants to review the ferry service to develop a long-term plan to keep them in operation. He urged those who attended the meeting, the second one to be held this week, to offer up their ideas and suggestions for keeping the ferries viable.

The Chester-Hadlyme ferry, he said, costs $384,000 annually to operate, but only brings in $100,000 in revenues.

But many of those who attended the meeting said the issue could not be boiled down to how much money the ferry generates in fees. They said there are extensive “tourism multipliers” that the ferries generate, money that tourists who take the ferry across the scenic river bring to the region but which aren’t factored into the state’s equation of expenses and revenues.

Others argued that the ferry fees could be increased to help cover some of the costs or running them.

David Williams, of Essex, said he moved here with his wife to retire, in part because of the historic character of the region, a character that includes the Chester-Hadlyme ferry. He said the state should consider increasing the ferry’s $3 per car fee.

“I see no reason the ferry can’t be $5 or $10. We love the ferries and hope they will stay forever.”

He also said eliminating the ferry could have broader implications for the region, including devaluing some local residential properties.

“That’s a much more expensive thing to compute than ferry tolls.”

Nancy Saunders, of East Haddam, said the state should make it a priority to save the ferries permanently.

“To lose (them) would be devastating. We need to do whatever we need to do to keep it going forever.”