By WECT Staff | July 29, 2020 at 12:14 PM EDT – Updated July 29 at 12:26 PM
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – The shuttered Southport-Fort Fisher ferry route will reopen to the public at 1 p.m. Friday, according to a spokesperson with the NCDOT’s Ferry Division.
The $3 million project to replace the ferry’s old cable-counterweight system with an updated hydraulic ramp system began in January and was expected to be complete by April 6. However, work was halted due to Governor Roy Cooper’s “stay-at-home” order over the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Contractors resumed work on the project in mid-May and recently finished the work.
The ferry schedule beginning July 31 will be:
- From Southport: 5:30 a.m., 7, 7:45, 8:30, 9:15, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 1:45, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 4:45 and 6:15 p.m.
- From Fort Fisher: 6:15 a.m., 7:45, 8:30, 9:15, 10 and 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 4:45, 5:30 and 7 p.m.
- From Southport: 7 a.m., 8:30, 9:15, 10, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1, 1:45, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 4:45 and 6:15 p.m.
- From Fort Fisher: 7:45 a.m., 9:15, 10, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1, 1:45, 2:30, 3:15, 4, 4:45 and 5:30 p.m.
All commuter passes with an expiration date of Jan. 5, 2020 or later will be given an automatic extension credit of 208 days to compensate for the closure of the Southport-Fort Fisher route.
As on all N.C. Ferry System routes, passengers on the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry are asked to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by wearing face coverings and staying socially distanced while out on ferry decks or inside passenger lounges.
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