Strong winds and heavy rains on May 4 caused sinkholes along the bike path that extends on a former rail line into Lake Champlain.
According to the Colchester town website, local officials have found that the storm also caused structural damage to a bridge on the causeway. The total cost of repairs has been estimated at $563,000.
“A project of this scope will take time to plan, fund and execute and unfortunately time has run out for the 2018 Bike Ferry season,” Local Motion communication coordinator Becca Jordan wrote in a news release Friday.
From May to October each year, the ferry transports 16,000 people across the 200-foot cut in the causeway between Colchester and South Hero. The organization asks for a $5 donation for the eight-minute ride. Donations generate $75,000 annually — about half the cost of the ferry, according to the Local Motion website.
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Does anyone know yet if one will be able to walk or bike from South Hero to where the gap is? Or any length of that portion, later this summer? Or too soon to say?
If anyone knows, or knows if that northern stretch is walkable/rideable now, please post – thanks so much,
Adan
I think fixing the causeway should be a very high priority. Can’t a volunteer effort be organized for asap repairs, with in part donations of gravel material and a fleet of skid steer time. This should be a rallying point triage versus slow “thoughtful” process that will ultimately cost a half a million. It is well worth your communities effort to get the trail and the ferry going this summer.