Residents in Wolfe Island, Ont. - a township of about 1,600 people across Lake Ontario from Kingston, Ont. - want better ferry service to the mainland. The only way to access Wolfe Island is by boat. The Wolfe Island Ferry currently runs every hour, but residents want more than one to be in service at a time. One of the reasons islanders think a second ferry is needed is overcrowding on the current one. “We’ve got more people, we have more vehicles, of course, than ever. So, getting off and on is a chore,” says resident Martha Rixten. Every building on the island is heated by propane tanks, delivered by trucks that take the ferry. Last weekend, Rixten’s heat went out because she ran out of propane. She was told by the company that they weren’t able to board the ferry because of capacity issues. “He said there were three other propane trucks. So, he was told that only one propane truck per ferry run,” Rixten explains. She’s lived on the island her entire life and has never had this issue. Overcrowding is a growing concern for Wolfe Island officials - especially in the summer when tourists and cottagers are using the ferry daily. “Transportation, as you can appreciate, is key for anybody to have economic development and growth,” says Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers. Locally owned businesses have been impacted too. Mike Bromley owns a sign shop called “Signs from Above,” receiving deliveries from Canada Post, UPS or Puralator every day. “It’s a challenge to have a business here,” Bromley explains. He says recently, some packages have been left at the docking station on the Kingston side because of wait times for the ferry. It’s forced him to think about the sustainability of running his business on the island. “I still see this as a very unique place to live,” he says. “It’s about lifestyle, but the only way that this community is going to survive is if we have a secondary plan.” The ferry did receive an upgrade last summer, but the new ferry was damaged in early December and has been under repair for nearly two months.
