Ferry crossings to be slashed again, some runs tight as Dick's hatband

March 5, 2009 by Jeff Aydelette

The state ferry across the Neuse River was packed for Thursday's 5:45 p.m. departure from Cherry Point.

A tentative schedule indicates more cuts are in store, reflecting only one ferry in operation during the crucial morning hours.

A cash-strapped state government is proposing severe cuts to the ferry service across the Neuse River, despite having eliminated a number of runs just two months ago.

Crew members squeezed a car driven by Beverly Fruhling onto Thursday’s 5:45 p.m. crossing. As the ferry left the Cherry Branch terminal, its deck resembled a floating sardine can with 32 vehicles and one trailer-mounted boat bound for Minnesott Beach.

“I really didn’t think they could get me on,” said Fruhling, who works occasionally as a seamstress at E.T.’s Military Surplus in Havelock. “It’s getting really crowded on this thing.”

Had there not been room, Fruhling faced two options: Wait exactly one hour for the next scheduled crossing, or hit the road for a 40-plus mile trip back to Pamlico County.

One crew member, apparently sensing her anxiety, handed Fruhling a revised schedule, which carried a foreboding footnote: “Due to further budget reductions, Cherry Branch will have to make additional cuts. The current proposal is offered to you for comment.”

Regular motorists and passengers were doing double-takes at the photocopied slip of paper. Right there in black and white was a stark manifestation of the incredible shrinking ferry system, soon to become a mere shadow of its former self.

The projected timetable calls for just one ferry to be in operation during the crucial morning hours, forcing waits on each side of up to one hour. In fact, a close reading indicates dual-runs may soon become a thing of the past.

The new tentative lineup features simultaneous departures and arrivals on each side of the Neuse for not quite three hours per day, from 1:45 p.m. until 4:15 p.m.

Minnesott Beach beware! Miss that 12:15 p.m. departure and motorists will be forced to twiddle their thumbs for an hour and a half.

Thursday evening, a check of the state ferry system website gave no inkling of the proposed cuts. Nor have any press releases been issued.

One member of the ferry's six-man crew said the service reductions were designed to trigger layoffs.

“Whoever laid this new schedule out, didn’t know what they were doing,” he said. “There’s no telling what this will do to restaurants and other businesses. We are hoping our regular passengers will complain, otherwise these cuts are going to happen.”

Comments should be e-mailed immediately to: cpiner@ncdot.gov

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