A new 15-car ferry is going to be added to the provincial government’s fleet at a construction cost of approximately $6.5-million, but where exactly it’s going to end up isn’t known yet.
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Bill Fraser made the announcement at the Brundage Point River Centre in Grand Bay-Westfield where he said that the contract has been signed, the design approved by the government and the construction of the new ferry is underway.
There are now seven river ferries in operation in the province along with a rental ferry at the Kennebecasis Island location and since 2015 it’s been used a cost of $750,000 a year. Though the new ferry won’t necessarily be used at that location, the province does say it will eliminate the need for a rental ferry.
One thing that is certain, Minister Fraser says this ferry will not be going to Gagetown, where ferry service was eliminated. It will go to one of the six sites currently in operation.
“That was the lowest ridership of the entire fleet, we were going through a Strategic Program Review process at the time. We had some very difficult choices to make as a provincial government because of the decisions that were made by Blaine Higgs when he was finance minister where he cut and and slashed the department of Transportation and Infrastructure budget,” says Fraser.
“We’ve got our finances in order now…so we’re at a point now where we’re going to be reinvesting into our river ferry system because it’s the right thing to do where it’s warranted.”
Early next year the province will decide what site the new ferry will be located, and the decision will be made based on volume and traffic.
