A crowd gathered Tuesday in the frigid air along White’s Ferry on the banks of the Potomac River to push for the reopening of the ferry service that connects Montgomery and Loudoun counties.
“What do we want? When do we want it?” the crowd chanted.
The ferry service linked Montgomery County鈥檚 Poolesville community to Virginia鈥檚 Loudon County and advocates of reopening the service say it would benefit businesses and communities on both sides of the Potomac.
The group, which met in Poolesville, is hoping that a five-year impasse between landowners on both sides of the Potomac can come to an end and that the ferry service can start up again.
“The local businesses in Poolesville are really suffering, because this is one of our main arteries into our town, and it’s been cut off for five years,” Tom Kettler, with the Poolesville Area Chamber of Commerce, told 91欧美激情.
Jim Brown, president of the Poolesville Town Commissioners, said the closure of the ferry five years ago has hurt the town.
“First of all, our commercial sector is down by 20% since the ferry closed,” he said. He compared the ferry closing to “having your left arm cut off.”
Brown organized the gathering to mark the 鈥渦nhappy鈥� anniversary of the ferry closure.
The service that once carried commuter and tourist traffic across the Potomac each day was shut down in 2020 after the former operator of the ferry and the landowner on the Virginia side, Libby Devlin of Rockland Farm, failed to settle a legal dispute over the landing site.
In 2021, Chuck Kuhn, a developer whose business is based in Virginia, bought the ferry and the landing site on the Maryland side of the Potomac. At the time, Kuhn stated he hoped to open the ferry service quickly, but what followed has been a protracted series of negotiations that have failed to reach a deal.
Tuesday鈥檚 event drew elected officials, including Montgomery County Council members Marilyn Balcombe, whose district includes White鈥檚 Ferry, and Council members Evan Glass and Andrew Friedson.
Glass and Friedson 鈥� who are both running for county executive 鈥� have been active in trying to negotiate a solution to the stalemate between the landowners on both sides of the river.
Friedson called the ferry 鈥渁 critical piece of infrastructure鈥� that tied two communities together and allowed commuters between Montgomery and Loudon Counties to avoid a long circular route to work, by hopping on the ferry.
Glass, who has chaired the county council鈥檚 Transportation Committee said he鈥檚 鈥渉eartened and optimistic鈥� that some Virginia lawmakers in Richmond 鈥渁re finally realizing that the state needs to step up鈥� to try and break the impasse.
Link Hoewing, with the Fair Access Committee that鈥檚 lobbied to revive the ferry service, said since Montgomery County and the state of Maryland came up with a pot of money totaling $3 million, efforts to get an agreement have stalled.
Hoewing said he doesn鈥檛 see 鈥渁 lot of light at the end of the tunnel鈥� as the clock ticks on a July 1, 2026, deadline. The parties have until then, the start of a new fiscal year, to come to terms on a plan that satisfies both sides. 聽鈥淎t the end of that, I don鈥檛 know what to tell you because we鈥檝e essentially had five years of trying to get the two parties to work out an agreement,鈥� Hoewing said.
Maryland State Del. David Frasier-Hidalgo said it鈥檚 been a long and frustrating five years. 鈥淚 just, I鈥檓 done. I鈥檓 really frustrated,鈥� by the inability of the two landowners to agree to an arrangement that would allow for the ferry to reopen. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 seem to get along. It鈥檚 just like, like kids that just, they can鈥檛鈥�-I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 pride or money, or what it is,鈥� Frasier-Hidalgo said.
The rally featured a playlet based on Charles Dickens鈥� 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� and Hoewing played the part of one of the ghosts who visited Ebeneezer Scrooge. 鈥淥ur message is that the public interest needs to be the center point of any discussion here. We know there are private parties, we know they have private lands, “but,” he said, 鈥渢hey should really be bending every way they can.
91欧美激情 reached out to Devlin and Kuhn for comment.
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