Balboa Island Ferry resumes car service after construction causes monthlong closure
It’s been a slow January for the Balboa Island Ferry, with a nearly monthlong closure of Agate Avenue for the undergrounding of utilities where its terminal is located. But things picked up again this weekend when the work was deemed complete and on Saturday cars could once again access the ferry for the short ride between Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula.
Ferry operations manager Nate Capra said in an interview earlier this week he was relieved to know the dry spell would be coming to an end. Without cars aboard, there’s only been enough demand for about one ferry per weekday. On weekends this month, Capra felt lucky if they had enough passengers to run two boats.
“It’s been pedestrian-only, people with bicycles,” Capra said. “We have people who will come on the ferry, usually early in the morning, who have never been on the boat before without cars and they get so excited and we really try and let people know that if you want that experience, now’s the time.”
The business collaborated with artist Scott Milton Brazee to create a limited graphic T-shirt that reads “I started 2022 with a little more leg room on the Balboa Island Ferry” and Capra said he even considered putting a few chairs on the deck where the cars would normally be, though that didn’t end up happening.
“That’s the positive attitude that we’ve been trying to have going with this,” said Capra, who added that, with the exception of the earliest days of the pandemic and this past month’s road closure, there has never been a shutdown on auto traffic in the ferry’s century-long history.
“Fortunately, we’ve had some really stellar weather in January. We had a decent amount of walk-ons, but we’re very eager to have cars back on the ferry,” Capra said. He bought a big ribbon to commemorate the reopening.
He declined to comment on the exact financial impacts of the closure. From a personal perspective, he said it’d just be nice to see their regulars again that use the ferry to commute.
Suspension of vehicle service aboard the ferry added about six miles for drivers traveling between the island and the Balboa Peninsula. The ferry shortens that distance to less than 1,000 feet.
“We have the great privilege of introducing Newport Beach and Balboa to people new to the area,” Capra said of the ferry service. “On one hand, it will be great to be bringing back cars again, but also great to see this whole group of regulars that we might not have been seeing for this whole month.
“We do like what we do out there.”
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