Wicomico County Upper Ferry maintenance persists

SALISBURY, Md.— “The Wicomico County Upper Ferry is out of service once again for repairs.

The ferry has been out of service for two months and is scheduled for mechanical work.

County Executive Julie Giordano said the ferry had been scheduled for an overhaul soon, but officials decided to pull it out early because of safety concerns. The cable that moves the ferry back and forth was malfunctioning.

“We started seeing some malfunction with the cable and if a boat had come up, which actually one did, we were lucky that nothing happened,” Giordano said. “But we had passengers on the ferry, and we knew at that point the mechanical issue was too dangerous to have it in the water.”

Giordano said officials are working to get state funding, but that process is moving slowly. The county plans to move forward anyway, she said, because an operational ferry is a top priority.

“The maintenance on it is imperative,” she said. “We have to keep people safe. One thing we are going to look for is a potential third ferry, so when this happens, we can put it in the water and it could work either on the Upper Ferry or the Lower Ferry.”

The maintenance is expected to take about 120 days.