Pocahontas Pulled from Service, Again

By WYDaily Staff Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Motorists who rely on the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry are in for some delays after the Pocahontas was again pulled from service Tuesday night for maintenance.

There was no word from the Virginia Department of Transportation when the Pocahontas would be returned to service.

The Pocahontas was taken out of the fleet May 5 for emergency maintenance that was expected to last until mid-May. She returned to service Sunday night, a few days ahead of schedule, before operating at reduced capacity during Tuesday night rush hour.

Both the Surry and Virginia will continue to operate at full capacity, but the Pocahontas' departure means total ferry capacity will be down by about 50 vehicles per hour.

Motorists should consider using the I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, the James River Bridge (Route 17), and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge (Route 106/156) as alternate travel routes during the ferry capacity reduction to avoid extended delays.

For the most frequent updates, call the Traffic Information Line at 757-361-3016 or the ferry hotline, 1-800-VA-FERRY.