Merrimac Ferry has made its last trip this season

Photo by Brian D. Bridgeford / Capital Newspapers

Despite a slushy layer of ice floating on Lake Wisconsin, the Merrimac Ferry was still loading vehicles for the trip across the river Dec. 2 in the afternoon. Ferry service continues on a day-to-day basis.

By Brian Bridgeford, Capital Newspapers

The Merrimac Ferry made its last trip across Lake Wisconsin on Dec. 4.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation announced Thursday that the Colsac III, the ferry carrying travelers and their vehicles across the Wisconsin River between Columbia and Sauk Counties at Merrimac, closed for the winter season due to ice on the river.

With winter closing in, the Merrimac Ferry had been operationg on a day-to-day basis.

On the morning of Dec. 2 a small group of cars were lined up on the Columbia County side of Lake Wisconsin as the Merrimac Ferry docked. Its ramp dropped, a green arrow went on and they rolled onto the boat with the clanking of tires on metal.

A roar of the engine, a puff of diesel smoke and the three drive wires that pull the ferry from one shore to the other tightened as the boat began its trip back to the Sauk County side of the lake. It moved through a mostly-clear channel, but a thick covering of broken ice was visible nearby.

At the village of Merrimac landing the ramp dropped again, the cars rolled off, then a group of three cars and a FedEx delivery van drove aboard for a trip back.

With colder weather expected, ice building up on the lake is going to end the ferry season soon, possibly by the end of the week, said Michael Bie, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. DOT officials will review the situation each day and decide whether conditions require them to end ferry runs.

"When enough ice has accumulated in the river, then it's time to shut down," he said. "It begins causing trouble with the cable, because the ferry's run on a cable, and also the ferry is not designed to be an ice breaker."

The first week in December is commonly when ferry service ends each year.

Wisconsin's only free ferry began the 2008 season April 2 and had run for 242 days, 24 hours per day by Nov. 30, Bie said. That meant it was in operation 5,808 hours. It only was down for 40 hours because of mechanical issues.

"That was a 99-percent efficiency rating for the season, which is very good," he said.