Missouri-Kentucky ferry gets upgrades from federal funds

DORENA, Mo. -- Stimulus and USDA funding will enable the Dorena-Hickman Ferry to better serve the area -- including commercial interests.

The ferry operation, which links Missouri at Dorena and Hickman, Ky., across the Mississippi River, was recently approved for $957,500 in federal grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The funding is being provided to the Missouri Department of Transportation by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration program.

The stimulus funding will be used to purchase a new, larger ferry barge to accommodate large truck traffic and to install more powerful engines being purchased with a $52,500 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant for the tugboat, according to Thomas Swayne Byrd, chairman of the Dorena-Hickman Ferry Board.

The new motors were purchased from and will be serviced by Cummins Mid-South in Sikeston, Byrd said.

The new motors will enable the tugboat to handle a larger barge. "The barge in service now has the capacity for one 18-wheeler and six cars," Byrd said. In order to balance the load on the existing barge, cars must be loaded first and then an 18-wheeler. If the semi is loaded first, no other vehicles can be loaded.

The exact dimensions of the new barge are still being determined by the marine architect, according to Byrd, but it will be "a much wider barge" that can carry two 18-wheelers and six cars.

And with the new barge, he explained, the cars and the 18-wheelers can be loaded in any order making it easier and faster to accommodate commercial traffic.

"I'm hoping to get some of the local truck lines to use the ferry on a regular basis," Byrd said, "so we become a commercial carrier and not just tourists and commuters. What I'm trying to do is establish east-west traffic for Sikeston so we don't have to wait for the bridge to Wickliffe, Ky., to be built."

On average, the ferry currently carries 42 vehicles and 89 people daily, according to Byrd, and a variety of traffic.

Residents of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee use the ferry on a year-round basis for work commutes although operational interruptions caused by high water and other weather conditions can cause traffic to be intermittent.

April through October is a peak time for both farm-related truck and equipment traffic and tourist traffic related to Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee, a popular destination for fishermen.

Byrd noted that with the imminent official opening of Orgill's 795,000-square-foot distribution center for home improvement products and Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn., slated to open in 2011, both commercial and tourism ridership are expected to steadily increase.

In a news release, Byrd said there are plans to promote the ferry for tourism.