Cyclists have cause for celebration: A group of organizations plans to re-open the Colchester Causeway in early July, and with it, the Island Line Bike Ferry.
A storm in early May caused sinkholes to form in the 4-mile-long causeway and caused structural damage to a bridge. As a result of the damage, it had previously been announced the bike ferry would not open for the 2018 season.
But the organization Local Motion, which runs the 8-minute ferry on Lake Champlain for cyclists and pedestrians, sent a release Tuesday stating that the Vermont Agency of Transportation, Vermont Fish & Wildlife and the town of Colchester are working together to rebuild the causeway, aiming to complete that project in about a month.
Local Motion said once that project is completed, the bike ferry will once again be operational, transporting passengers each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Bike Ferry to resume service in 2018https://t.co/MjXATdijm5 pic.twitter.com/K4JJW4PQcW
— Local Motion (@LocalMotionVT) June 5, 2018
"As soon as the causeway opens, we're gonna get ready to go with daily bike ferry service again," Ross Saxton with Local Motion told Vermont Edition Tuesday. "And last year we had about 16,000 people from all over the world come and use that, so we're pretty excited to have that running."
Last month, Local Motion had said repairs to the causeway would require a major reconstruction project. At that time, the town of Colchester also put a preliminary repair estimate for the causeway and the bridge at about $536,000.
PHOTOS: Colchester Causeway Closed Due To Storm Damage [May 7]
In Tuesday's release, Local Motion said it would announce the official date bike ferry service will resume will at the same time the town of Colchester announces the causeway's re-opening.
Update 3:15 p.m. This post was updated to include the quote from Ross Saxton on Vermont Edition.
