The Algiers Point Ferry Terminal is one step closer to getting a $9.7 million upgrade and reopening its doors, after five years of being closed.
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority on Saturday (Nov. 16) held its final in-person community engagement session for residents to view renovation designs, based on previously gathered feedback, and to share more insights into what amenities they’d like to see for the terminal once it opens.
Meanwhile, as it prepares to begin work on the terminal, the agency says it does not have enough money to run the ferry itself. Last month, RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins asked the New Orleans City Council for $7 million next year to pay for ferry service between Canal Street to Algiers Point. But councilmembers have thus far signaled that they are not willing to provide the subsidy.
This is the second time in the past two years that the transit agency has turned to the city for funding to pay for the ferry. Late last year, the RTA projected a $3 million deficit for 2024. Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration later agreed to step in and fill the gap.
For decades, the service was paid for with tolls taken on the Crescent City Connection. But those were eliminated in 2013. And the RTA has since struggled to find a permanent source of funding. Over the past several years, it has been using federal COVID-19 relief funds to cover much of the cost of the service, but those have been exhausted, Hankins said last month.
The terminal renovations have been in the works since 2019, when it closed to the public after pedestrian-only ferry boats replaced the older ones built for pedestrians and vehicles.
The majority of the funds for the renovation project will be provided through grant money from the Federal Transit Authority. The FTA, in large part, funded the new Canal Street Ferry Terminal, which opened in late August 2023, after years of delays.
The RTA held its first round of community engagement meetings for the project in the Spring. Then, residents expressed a desire for the pedestrian ramp from the terminal to the ferry to be covered as it is at the Canal Street terminal, the ferry’s East bank loading point, according to Jennie West, founder and principal designer at architectural firm Studio West – contracted to design the renovations.
West said the shelter for the ramp was the public’s “number one” request. A close second was a desire for public restrooms. Originally there were concerns over maintenance of the facilities, but the agency solved that issue by requiring a concessions contractor to keep the bathrooms clean.
On Saturday, community members pasted notes to a posterboard with suggestions for what they’d like to see at the newly renovated terminal.
Jim Goodwon, a longtime Algiers Point resident and a board member of the area’s neighborhood association, said he suggested that the RTA work with the Algiers Historic Society to create displays about the community and the ferry inside the new terminal.
Goodwin said he remembered when the ferry terminal was a gathering place for Algerians. When the ferry also carried cars across the river, loading took much longer than it does today.
“So people would rendezvous here and then go together across the river,” he said.
West said residents expressed a need for a similar type of community space in the new facility.
“We also heard a public plaza is really something that the community would love to have as a space to gather,” West said.
Goodwin said he attended the community engagement session on Saturday to see that residents’ most pressing concerns were incorporated into the final designs.
“It looks like they’ve resolved most of the issues,” he said. “So [I’m] kind of a happy camper.”
Algiers Point resident and cyclist Devin Verrette said plans to create a way for people biking along the Mississippi River Trail to stay protected from oncoming traffic will be a “huge safety plus.”
The renovated terminal will also move the bus stop closer to the ramp for the ferry, allowing for better visibility for public transit raiders transferring from land to river transportation.
“It will also allow the bus to do what it needs to do to get in and out of the space without being blocked by cars,” West said.
A virtual community meeting on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at 5:30 pm will mark the end of community engagement on the project, after which, the Studio West team “will continue to refine the designs to optimize for functionality, budget, code compliance and safety,” according to the RTA website.
According to the RTA, the Algiers Ferry Terminal will reopen its doors in March 2026.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the start time of the engagement process. The engagement process began in the Spring.
