Wolfe Island residents worry new ferry dock won’t be completed on time

There is concern from ferry users about the slow work being done to expand the mainland Wolfe Island ferry dock.

The project is supposed to be completed in 2023, and islanders are frustrated by massive lineups and no clear answers from the Ministry of Transportation.

“Many of us talk about the fact that on the Kingston side, there is all this equipment sitting here and there doesn’t seem to be any work getting done and we don’t know why. So that’s very concerning,” Wolfe Island resident Ken Morin said.

Work on the dock expansion to provide more space on land and in the water to accommodate the larger 75-vehicle Wolfe Islander 4 ferry began back in 2020.

At the time, the project was given a deadline of 2023.

Since then, the multi-million dollar Islander 4, the province’s first battery-powered ferry, has arrived from Romania where it was being built by dutch company Damen Shipyards.

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The ferry is being docked in Picton, and remains out of service while on Ontario Street, work continues on the dock, looking far from meeting its pending deadline.

Already, residents say the delay has meant operations have not kept up with demand and they are feeling the impact.

“I was working in Kingston all spring and summer and missed probably 10 days of work because of the ferry, so that’s a bit disconcerting,” Morin said.

“For me, I try to get home from work, or anything really, then I am stuck over here for another hour because of all the construction and people trying to get over,” said another Island resident, Lauren Taggart.

Global News reached out to the Ministry of Transportation with questions about a possible delay and received the following statement: “The ministry is working diligently to complete the construction of the mainland and island side docks as soon as possible. We’ll have more to say on this in due course.”

Without more information to go on, islanders are left wondering how much longer they will be affected by the delay.

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