By MELISSA PEACOCK

EDGARD – Reductions in the Reserve-Edgard Ferry’s hours of operation have St. John the Baptist Parish West Bank residents shouting, “Hold the boat!”

Tired of the long commute to the East Bank, residents in Edgard are asking the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development for some relief.

Vincent Latino, ferry and moveable bridge maintenance engineer for the DOTD, said two more hours could be added to the ferry’s schedule in the future. However, Latino could not comment on how long West Bank residents will have to wait for the proposed change.

“We are waiting for a licensed marine engineer,” Latino said. “We only have one right now. We require at least one more engineer so that there could be rotation and some relief.”

The Reserve-Edgard operating schedule has been changed repeatedly because of understaffing. The current operating hours are from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The ferry does not run on the weekends.

“We have not had any success in getting those engineers in the past,” Latino said. “They get paid so much from private industry that it is hard to find anyone willing to work for what we can pay. We are always searching.”

But things are looking up for the DOTD and, subsequently, for the people on the West Bank. The DOTD is offering salaries 28 percent above maximum and interviews for captains and engineers are going well.

For now, West Bank residents that need to travel to the East Bank for business or commerce early in the mornings or in the late evening may have to continue to use the Wallace-Gramercy Bridge.

“It is almost like St. John is forcing us to go to St. James to the Winn-Dixie or to St. Charles to go shopping,” said Lester Rainey, St. John the Baptist Parish Councilman and resident of Edgard. “There are employees (in East Bank industries) who need to be at work at 5:45 (for their 6 a.m. shift). Right now they are spending more on gas and auto expenses.”

The result of reduced hours and a reduction in ferry size, Rainey said, is a “caravan” of commuters driving roughly 12 miles to the Wallace-Gramercy bridge.

Councilman Dale Wolfe said he is also concerned about the impact the schedule reductions have had on Edgard and Reserve.

“They (constituents) are concerned when they have to go to Edgard to court, the ferry is not going to be operable,” Wolfe said. “And when the people in Edgard come to go shopping on the East Bank on weekends, it is not operable.”

Latino said DOTD is working to maximize the ferry’s serviceability but can not guarantee when hours would be added.

or at what time of day they will be.