With new ferry operating in Crown Point, Essex ferry shuts down

There’s more bad news this morning for commuters in the Champlain Valley.

The Lake Champlain Transportation Company says it plans to end ferry service between Essex New York and Charlotte Vermont beginning tomorrow.

That will add hours to the daily drive for hundreds of workers in the mid-Champlain Valley who cross to reach jobs and services in Burlington.

They will now have to drive north to Plattsburgh or south to Crown Point.

According to New York state transportation officials, the ferry now in use at Essex will be shifted south to Crown Point, where a new ferry terminal opened on Monday.

They blamed the change on shifting traffic patterns and ice build-up on the lake.

In recent years, the Essex-Charlotte ferry had remained open through the winter.

The Crown Point-Addison ferry is operating 24 hours a day, seven days of week, carrying cars free of charge.

A new bridge at Crown Point is expected to be built by the summer of 2011.