BATON ROUGE - As ongoing repairs to the Intracoastal Bridge continue to birth nightmarish traffic in Baton Rouge, officials say they're extending ferry hours to try and alleviate the gridlock.

DOTD announced Wednesday afternoon that hours for the Plaquemine Ferry will be extended beginning Wednesday. A statement from the transportation department says it hopes the extended hours will "mitigate increased traffic congestion" caused by the emergency lane closure on the bridge.

“We realize that increasing the Plaquemine ferry’s hours of operation won’t eliminate the traffic congestion caused by the lane closure on LA 1,” said DOTD Secretary Shawn D. Wilson, Ph.D. “But we’re doing everything we can to give drivers as many options as possible to cross the Mississippi River."

One of the bridge's southbound lanes has been shut down since March 19 when a dump truck plowed into one the supports below. Workers were already in the middle of repairs for the nearly 60-year-old bridge.

As part of the expanded ferry hours, the second ferry will begin service an hour earlier in the afternoon, and the first ferry will run for an hour longer in the evening. Additionally, a single ferry will run during the weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The adjusted schedule can be found below.

• Monday through Friday, the first boat runs from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Monday through Friday, the second boat runs from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday, one boat runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.