BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry will remain out of service until Monday afternoon.
The 17-car M/V ferry that was moved from Edgard to the ferry arrived as scheduled on Sunday, Nov. 8. Upon arrival crews noticed a valve leak in the engine room which delayed the return to service. The valve is being repaired, and the service is expected to resume its normal operating hours by mid-afternoon Monday, Nov. 9.
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 or U.S. 190 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.