Dorena-Hickman ferry closing for expected 6 weeks

HICKMAN, Ky. (AP) -- Travelers who use a western Kentucky ferry to cross the Mississippi River to and from Missouri will need to take another route for the next few weeks.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry, the only direct route between the two towns, was closing Wednesday for an expected six weeks while the boat is sent to St. Louis to have new engines installed. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the nearly $200,000 project, funded with a federal grant, is to improve reliability of the ferry.

With the ferry out of service, the 1 1/2-mile crossing of the river from Missouri to Kentucky becomes an 85-mile drive via the Mississippi and Ohio River bridges at Cairo, Ill. Detouring by way of the Interstate 155 Mississippi River bridge at Dyersburg, Tenn., required a 127-mile trip.