By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A steady stream of vehicles lined access roads on both sides of the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish Monday as the Reserve-Edgard ferry resumed operation following a more than three-year absence.

The ferry’s return Monday coincided with events on the east and west banks celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., making it easier for parish officials to attend events in LaPlace and Edgard.

“This has been quite a long time coming and on such a beautiful sunny day,” said Parish President Natalie Robottom as she rode the ferry Monday afternoon. “This will certainly make life easier for many residents on both sides of the river.”

The 17-car ferry serves as the only river crossing in St. John Parish. With the vessel out of commission, residents were forced to drive 21 miles out of their way to either the Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. James Parish, or the Hale Boggs Bridge in St. Charles Parish to cross the river.

Although a great deal of parish residents enjoyed a holiday from work Monday, many in the area hopped a ride on the ferry just to see what it felt like again. Anthony Young of Reserve, who works at Dow Chemical in Taft, said he was looking forward to using the ferry every morning.

“This will save me one heck of a drive in the mornings,” Young said. “I’m very happy to get it back again.”

Wanda Calais of Reserve, who often crosses the river for business and other responsibilities, said she is excited by how much she will save in gasoline from not having to drive so far.

“It is a good thing to have it back,” Calais said. “I think it means a lot to both sides of the river.”

The ferry was docked in 2007 while the Army Corps of Engineers made repairs to the levees and landing sites. Upon completion of those repairs, which called for the repositioning of a utility pole off the levee’s slope, the parish was caught in a legal struggle with the Archdiocese of New Orleans over access to land near the river batture that is owned by St. John the Baptist Church in Edgard.

The court battle stretched out more than a year before the church relented and allowed the parish to use the land to place the pole. The ferry also survived a shortage of crew members as well as an attempt to completely cut service because of state budget constraints.

The ferry will operate Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. The first ferry crossing leaves Reserve at 5 a.m. and the final crossing leaves Edgard at 8:45 p.m.

The vessel departs from Reserve on the hour and half-hour and departs from Edgard on the quarter hours of every hour. Each car costs $1 and the toll is collected on the Reserve side.

Before heading out for a trip, drivers and pedestrians can call a toll-free information line at 1-888-613-3779 for the status of the ferry, or visit the “Ferry Status” page on the right-hand side of the DOTD website, www. dotd.louisiana.gov.

Drivers can also access updates on the ferry through Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/Reserve_Ferry. Drivers can receive automatic updates via their Twitter Web page or a text message to a cell phone.