SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Commuters, visitors, and others could someday use a ferry service to hop between South Portland and Portland. That's the hope of South Portland waterfront landowners.
PK Realty Management LLC, which will be developing and managing the site owned by developer Richard Packard, announced on Facebook it is working to find out if the ferry service is a "viable option" for the site, which is between Bug Light park and the Gulf Oil storage tanks.
The management group noted, "the term 'ferry' is meant more in the sense of a water-based connection."
According to the Portland Press Herald, Portland City Manager, Jon Jennings has said the proposed ferry service could ultimately reduce the amount of traffic over the Casco Bay Bridge from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth.
Waterfront land owned by Richard Packard
South Portland city officials say the idea of a water transit service connecting the city and Portland has been in talks for a while.
Most recently at a regional community meeting, the idea of that kind of service was well received by leaders and residents of the two cities as well as Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough.
The developers are looking at all sorts of possibilities and they are in the early due diligence stage of data gathering.
"We can't claim any fame in coming up this idea. We're piggy-backing off an idea that was already out there," said Jennifer Packard, Principal of PK Realty Management. "We're really looking at the feasibility of it. What kind of connectivity would make sense, if it would make sense? And then you know it would have to be something that would make sense for the whole population as it stands now."
Right now PK Realty Management is conducting traffic studies of the area to give them more information as to whether this idea is well-suited for the area.