After years of waiting, Wolfe Island residents are worried that their new ferry won’t solve the island’s long-running transportation problems when it launches next month.
The community has struggled over the past few years with inconsistent ferry schedules that have impacted their daily commutes and their access to emergency services.
According to a Friday news release from Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the Wolfe Islander IV electric ferry will be able to transport 50 per cent more vehicles than its predecessor when it begins operations on Aug. 17.
But the boat is set to operate every 80 minutes between Wolfe Island and Kingston, Ont. — an extra 20 minutes compared to the current service.
“It’s going to be a miracle if it works more than a couple of days,” said Mike Bromley, a local business owner who runs a sign-making shop and fish farm on Wolfe Island.
Difficult for businesses
Bromley has lived on the island since 2005 and said because of the ferry’s lack of operational consistency, he’s had to spend entire days gathering all the raw materials for his sign business.
Delays have also left those visiting his fish farm trapped on the island unable to get home.
“Because people coming from the mainland can’t get on the boat [at] a specific time, I can’t hang around waiting for people to to fish,” Bromley said.
“I don’t, as a business owner, want to have that obligation to accept their money to come fish and then leave them stranded in the [ferry] line.”
Jason Pyke, a grain farmer on the island, said the unpredictable ferry schedule has also hurt his business, limiting his access to supplies and equipment.
Pyke said he has issues delivering produce on the mainland because people making the deliveries don’t want to get trapped by the delays.
“All of our inputs in the spring through summer for growing our crops need to come by that ferry. All of our crop leaving the island goes by that ferry,” he said.
“It just becomes very difficult to do business.”
Sink it, sell it or scrap it
Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers said she’s opposed to the new 80-minute schedule, which she sees as a downgrade from the current one-hour service.
“This is detrimental. This is stepping back,” she said, adding that the only viable solution is to offer dual service by running both the old and new ferries at the same time.
In 2016, a study done by the MTO recommended adding dual-vessel ferry operations as the “best alternative” to the existing transportation issues, but the ministry didn’t implement it.
“I’m angry because the Wolfe Islander III is right there,” Greenwood-Speers said.
She also criticized MTO’s communication with the municipal government, calling it “extremely poor.”
“If they can’t do the job, sink it, sell it or scrap it. But do not hinder us.”
According to the ministry, work is underway on charging and docking infrastructure improvements that will enable the Wolfe Islander IV to run on a more frequent schedule in the future.
CBC has asked the MTO when those improvements will be complete and whether there will be dual-ferry service but has not received a response.
Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers said when she was growing up, the ferry schedule was every 40 minutes and anything longer than 60 for a round trip is a “no-go.”