BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry is closed to allow crews to make engine repairs.

The ferry will return to its regular schedule by mid-day on Thursday, Jan. 7. The operating hours for the New Roads/St. Francisville ferry are 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Before traveling, drivers can call the Toll-Free Ferry Information line at 1-888-613-3779 for the status of the ferry, or visit the "Ferry Status" page on the right-hand side of the DOTD Web site.

Drivers can also access updates on the ferry through Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/StFran_Ferry.

By creating a Twitter account, drivers can receive automatic updates on the ferry’s status via their Twitter Web page or text message. For questions about DOTD’s Twitter page or any other DOTD-related questions, contact DOTD’s Customer Service Center at 1-877-4LA-DOTD (1-877-452-3683). The center’s normal business hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.