BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the 35-car M/V New Roads, currently in service at the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry location, will be temporarily replaced with a 17-car vessel.

The 35-car ferry, which is being taken out of service to allow crews to repair its fuel vents, will return to service on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Vehicle restrictions for the 17-car ferries are no trailers, no more than two axles and no more than six wheels. Large trucks and trailers should use the Interstate 10 Mississippi River Bridge.

The operating hours for the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry are 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Before traveling, drivers can call the Toll-Free Ferry Information line at 1-888-613-3779 for the status of the ferry, or visit the "Ferry Status" page on the right-hand side of the DOTD Web site.

Drivers can also access updates on the ferry through Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/StFran_Ferry.

By creating a Twitter account, drivers can receive automatic updates on the ferry’s status via their Twitter Web page or text message. For questions about DOTD’s Twitter page or any other DOTD-related questions, contact DOTD’s Customer Service Center at 1-877-4LA-DOTD (1-877-452-3683). The center’s normal business hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.