BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the 35-car M/V New Roads was taken out of service this morning after the vessel’s propeller was damaged by debris in the Mississippi River.

DOTD is in the process of moving the 17-car M/V St. Charles from Edgard to the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry landing. Service is scheduled to resume Sunday, Nov. 8.

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.