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| Rideau Ferry |
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| Shipwreck restaurant dockage and the bridge |
turns into the Big Rideau. They've had some trespassing, and vandalizing of their fence. That is about to change.
There is much traffic at the store, and tourists
aren't the most patient of humanity! Many, with long trailers behind, park strangely. IT is difficult to find parking when there are fishing tournaments. We've even had a helicopter park in the parking lot! I just happened to be there...Behind the restaurant, is the Rideau Ferry General Store (medium blue). They are a great spot to shop, including an LCBO (liquor store), ice machines, a summer chip stand. You can buy eggs, frozen pizza, pop, juices, as well as gas and propane.
This is the spot where people can pick up their mail from the outdoor kiosk, too! In summer, the lake is a very busy spot.
This spot is everything cottagers want or need in a grocery emergency.
Between boaters, bridge jumpers, cars, trucks, contractors, there is much risk for incidents. People scream under the bridge in their boats and on jetskis. People will be in the area anyway, some passing through, some buying supplies. I just hope they can slow down.
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| Here are the new docks, beside the old footings. Someone has carved letters into the wet cement! |
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| Many boaters on the Rideau |
Turns out, the spot hasn't had public docks in years. It was called Oliver's Landing (1816 - 1862).
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| A busy July day - many boaters |
The old story goes that John Oliver had an Inn on the other side of the Rideau, which was true, and if it was too late for a ferry crossing, you could stay over for the night. The rumour was that he murdered and hid the bodies of his customers, stealing their goods. This has been shot down in recent research! (I wrote about it here.) This is a myth! He wasn't a very nice man. Nor was his son...
It's a busy spot as speed boats scream by in summer and snow machines in winter.
It's a busy spot as speed boats scream by in summer and snow machines in winter.
There was much lobbying for public dockage. I just hope that the OPP will monitor it well. We have enough with easy access to the liquor store, despite our local MPP's claims!
[Hillier introduces Bill to allow beer and wine sales in stores]
He wants more access through local stores, including people: Driving at the speed of stupid!
This is a high traffic area, with people parking poorly, and much risk for traffic incidents. Many run in and out for booze. I shudder to think of what it will look like on a summer long weekend with public docks.
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| Cigarette boats, too! |
Land Transfer Assists Public Dock Process
Council passed a bylaw (Sept. 28, 2012) to convey part of the former County Road #1, near the Rideau Ferry Bridge, to Drummond/North Elmsley Township. This includes pedestrian access from the dock to local businesses via the former County Road 1 lands (formerly Perth Street), which were created when the road was realigned to accommodate the construction of the new Rideau Ferry Bridge in 1968. |
| Sometimes traffic is an issue! |
The budget has been estimated up to $300,000, which makes room for any unforeseen factors, says Churchill.
Our tax dollars at work!
Public docks a step closer - Perth Community
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| Rideau Ferry, old bridge, restaurant |
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| Note the snowmobile tracks! |
The bridge is a place where young people jump into the lake in summer!
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| Young people bridge jumping in summer. |
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| This will be a busy spot in summer. Beyond the docks: cottages. |
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| Construction on the new docks |
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| Love the signage |
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| Last weekend it was frozen, with shards of ice |
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| View from the top of the bridge |
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| This bridge dates from 1968. You can see the footings of the old one in some photos. |
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| It's the shortest crossing, hence the ferry worked here in the early 1800s. |
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| The Rideau Canal waterway has much traffic. Many are hoping to increase waning boat tourism. Via dockage at Rideau Ferry (A) |
Hopes are buoyant for proposed wharf in Rideau Ferry
There was much lobbying, and much press!
The lack of public docks in Rideau Ferry continues to create frustration for residents and cottagers. Dallas Kennedy, owner of The Shipwreck, cites problems.Lack of public docks source of frustration in Rideau Ferry
These are photos I took as they were building!
Helicopter in Rideau Ferry from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
8 comments:
I guess it is hard when change and growth comes to an older, quiet area. But they do look like good new docks. - Margy
You have a few local problems I see. We are lucky there is an old ferry going inn the river Thames near our village and it's free
I'm sorry to read that your quiet area is being taken over by so many misbehaving tourists. I'll try to be good if I ever visit.
Money is the problem. Money allows for big boats, cars and houses. If we didn't have so much money everything would be at a much slower pace. We wouldn't need the big docks. People could have just as much fun with less money.
Maybe the area is too small to handle many tourist. But, the tourist bring their money which helps the community. There is no reason why the tourist should behave the way they do, that is wrong. I hope it all works out.
The fence was put up because the restaurant felt they were loosing business to the chip stand. Unfortunately for the restaurant some boaters didn't feel like taking kids in wet bathing suits into the restaurant for a $20 burger and fries when they could sit at a picnic table at the chip stand for $7 for the same thing. The way the restaurant ended up owning control of the docks is entirely another issue. New docks have been built because of this fence at the tax payers expense...I wonder if the restaurant's tax assessment will increase now due to this improvement. The store and restaurant at Rideau Ferry have until this fence was built, been mutually beneficial to each other. Tourists are a necessary evil to this township, much as they are to the many places visited by the host of this blog.
It's true, Rideau Ferry. It is a high end restaurant and those paying god money for a good meal don't need kids on vacation bopping about! i don't blame them for putting up a fence.
It's a busy and dangerous part of the Rideau system.
Many want to have a hamburger, although we prefer Tony's Chicken burgers! I am simply afraid for the traffic flow, not to mention those living opposite the general store, with docks on the water. It'll be crazy busy.
We've managed to avoid an incident, with people running in and out of the store, parking in strange places, at strange angles.
I've a background in environmental spaces and traffic flow, in education, and I can foresee an issue. They need someone on crowd control.It's chaos, with a multi-use parking space, adding boaters to the mix. That's all I'm saying.
Tourists are not a bad thing. It is the citiots, those who choose ignorance and stupidity (like the kids who go bridge jumping), that give tourists a bad name!
I loathe those who ignore climate change, too, and run their engines with either the A/C or heaters on while they shop. So much pollution.
I hope we are responsible tourists at the place we visit. Too many are simply in a hurry to get to their destination! The journey is supposed to be fun, too.
I grew up in Rideau Ferry- bridge jumping is a local rite of passage. We would practice on boathouses and then work up the courage for the bridge. I worked at the Rideau Ferry General Store as a kid and the cottagers and tourists brought money in so that we could have a summer job. I take my own children to Rideau Ferry every summer and we love the new public docks (My brother got married there last summer). Yes, times have changed and Rideau Ferry is a busy place in the summer but as long as people respect one another, I think it's great that so many people can enjoy a little jewel on the Rideau that I'm proud to call home.
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