whidbeyarchives

WHIDBEY ISLAND TRANSIT:
Isn't this the same thing as the trolley tracks that bus companies removed...and then the bus companies went bust (no pun intended)...
LIGHT RAIL TO THE RESCUE? EUROPEAN CONCEPT...TROLLEY LINES. Funding not 100% certain since November '06 elections; read about "Multimodal Mukilteo"

TRAIN/FERRY: Michael O'Leary / The Herald on train-ferry link; a quote that gives pause; Dan Bates / The Herald, paying the freight - commuter stop in the works.
Whoa! Read this report of not-so-easy sailing for ferry projects...preferred plan at left above--leaves room for new development (other than parking and ferry loading) on the waterfront dry land. At right is less expensive to build but, in our opinion, short-sighted use of spectacular site!

Mukilteo Multi-Modal project almost became a necessary repair project - see accident photos below and diagram. Now in service - a foot ferry - WSF coordinates runs with mass transit at other end!

Commuters on the ferry Kitsap got a front row look at the damaged dolphin as they waited to get off the ferry on Friday. Photo from the first ferry to arrive at the terminal after the ferry Cathlamet crashed into the dolphin pictured on the left side of the photo above. Won't help Whidbey Island, but Portland, Oregon adopted trolley lines as one idea! (photo above a European version of system).

Person goes overboard from ferry M/V Cathlamet
South Whidbey RECORD
December 12, 2011 · 7:01 AM

The Coast Guard and fire departments from Whidbey and Camano island were called out late Sunday evening to look for a person who reportedly jumped from the ferry M/V Cathlamet while the vessel was between Clinton and Mukilteo.

The Coast Guard said the person jumped from the ferry at approximately 11 p.m. Sunday. Coast Guard officials said they were notified of the missing traveler by Washington State Ferries.

A search of the area was started before midnight and included a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Seattle, an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from the Coast Guard's Air Station Port Angeles, and crews South Whidbey Island Fire Rescue and Camano Island Fire Rescue.

The search caused delays to ferry sailings to and from Whidbey Island late Sunday.

Boat fire leads to disruption in ferry service
South Whidbey RECORD
Mar 23 2011, 1:19 PM · UPDATED

A boat fire shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday led to the diversion of the Clinton ferry.

"I just glanced up from my desk and all of a sudden I saw flames and the ferry heading toward it," said Elliott Menashe, who lives near Zimmerman Road, north of Randall Point. "I looked up and just couldn't believe it."

Menashe said the boat was fully engulfed in flames, and there were seven small craft around the burning vessel. The burning boat was perhaps two miles northeast of the Clinton Ferry Terminal, and Menashe said he could see the Clinton ferry approaching the vessel.

At the height of the fire, the flames were as high as two-thirds the height of the ferry.

He said the boat looked like it was burning down to the water line.

At about 10:40 a.m., it appeared the Clinton ferry was turning back toward Mukilteo.

Marta Coursey, spokeswoman for Washington State Ferries, said on the WSF blog that ferry Capt. Edward Jenssen diverted the ferry M/V Kittitas to the burning vessel after the U.S. Coast Guard called for assistance. The burning boat was near Hat Island, and the Kittitas used about 20 gallons of fire suppression material to put out the fire.

There were eight vehicles, two motorcycles, and 20 passengers aboard the ferry when it was diverted, she said.

Coursey said the Kittitas missed one round-trip sailing.

New ferry produces bad vibrations
By NATHAN WHALEN, Whidbey News Times Reporter
Jul 30 2010, 1:37 PM

Sea trials of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s newest ferry, the 64-car Chetzemoka, uncovered an excessive vibration issue with the vessel’s driveline, according to a news release from the Ferries Division.

Despite repeated attempts at contact Friday, ferries officials refused to comment on whether there were any more issues with the Kwa-di Tabil Class ferry or whether the vibrations would delay the christening ceremony currently scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 29. The Chetzemoka is scheduled to start service on the Port Townsend-to-Keystone route the same day.

The vessel underwent sea trials and the United States Coast Guard approved safety requirements of the Chetzemoka. Tests were made of the vessel’s propulsion system, steering system, navigation equipment and public address system, according to the news release.

Discovery of the excessive vibration in the driveline “is exactly why we have sea trials and a massive cooperative effort to get this new ferry into service,” Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said in the news release.

The Ferries Division and the builder, Todd Pacific Shipyards, are working with engineers to determine the cause of the problem. Excessive vibration can shorten the lifespan of driveline components, according to the release.

Ferry holding area in Mukilteo expands today
Whidbey News-Times
May 21 2009, 1:33 PM · UPDATED

The ferry line in Mukilteo won't be quite so long now that at holding area has been expanded.

Effective today, May 21, are 12 new lanes holding a total of approximately 100 additional car spaces at the Mukilteo terminal.

This will bring the total vehicle spaces to 200. A news release from Washington State Ferries estimates the extra space should reduce backups on Highway 525 during peak commute periods by approximately a half mile.

The ferry system gained more room by leasing property that once held the Buzz Inn restaurant, adjacent to the ferry loading area. The restaurant building, which for many years housed the Seahorse restaurant, was razed to make room for more ferry parking.

Regional transit fight heats up; Supporters and opponents argue the merits of a $17.8 billion roads and light rail package.
By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer
October 12, 2007

EVERETT -- Opponents in the fight on Proposition 1 debated Thursday whether the proposed roads and light-rail measure provides enough bang for the billions of bucks it will cost.

"I can't imagine a more important generational, legacy-setting decision than the one we'll be making Nov. 6," said Doug Levy, government affairs consultant and volunteer with the supporters' campaign, in the debate at the Holiday Inn. The measure would raise sales taxes and car tab fees in Pierce, King and a part of Snohomish counties primarily to build 186 miles of roads and 50 miles of light rail.

Sound Transit and the Regional Transportation Investment District are behind the $17.8 billion package that includes $3 billion for Snohomish County with work in the next two decades on I-5, U.S. 2, highways 9 and 522, and commuter train service to Lynnwood. Opponents contend the true cost of the package will be $157 billion if years of financing charges and inflationary expenses are calculated.

"Whether it's $17.8 billion or it's $157 billion you deserve to get some traffic relief for that money and you're not," said Doug Simpson, a campaign adviser for the NoToProp1.org opposition effort.

Both sides acknowledged in the hourlong event that congestion is a serious problem. They simply disagreed that Proposition 1 is the solution. Levy, along with Fred Walser, former Sultan police chief and leader of the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition, said the measure will offer relief for commuters. Not passing it will make gridlock worse Delay and inaction is why it's come to this, they said.

As more than 1 million people moved into the Puget Sound region from 1990 to 2003, the state didn't spend the money needed to deal with the resulting traffic crunch, Levy said.

"We became a poster child for the 'C' word -- congestion," said Levy, whose clients include the city of Everett.

The Legislature enacted gas-tax hikes in 2003 and 2005 to generate billions of dollars for transportation projects statewide. Even so, that won't fully decongest the roads in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties, according to a state audit released Wednesday. The audit suggests the roads and light-rail projects in Proposition 1 will make a bad situation slightly better. The measure would hike sales tax within the boundaries of Sound Transit and both sales tax and motor vehicle excise taxes in the Regional Transportation Investment District.

Combined, the proposed taxes would add 6 cents to a $10 purchase, and $80 to license tabs for every $10,000 of a car's value. In Snohomish County, at least 15 highway projects would be built between 2009 and 2027. Walser spoke often of the one undertaking nearest his heart -- a bypass on U.S. 2 around downtown Monroe that's been talked about for 40 years. Proposition 1 will get it started, he said.

"The RTID is the key to everything for improving capacity and improving safety," Walser said.

Simpson and Bruce Nurse, vice president of Kemper Development Co. of Bellevue, said this measure needs to be scrapped and another plan developed. They made clear its weakness is the Sound Transit piece of the package. They argued that Sound Transit's past failure to complete projects on time does not bode well for it extending service into Snohomish County as promised. The package calls for train service to 164th Street SW and Ash Way in Lynnwood by 2028.

Light rail, they insisted, won't attract enough riders to put a dent in the daily commute tie-ups. Those dollars could be better spent on more buses, they said.

"I've never seen anything like this," Simpson said. "The people in the Puget Sound region are being conned."

Levy countered light rail will get used in peak commute hours, reducing the number of cars on the road and shaving time off drivers' trips. One issue that did not come up Thursday is whether Proposition 1 will contribute to the problem of global warming. That is the chief argument made by the Sierra Club's Cascade Chapter, which opposes the measure. They did not take part Thursday.

Cause of ferry crash still unknown
South Whidbey RECORD
By MICHAELA MARX WHEATLEY
Jun 06 2007

The investigation into Friday's ferry crash will take two weeks or so to complete, a state ferry spokeswoman said this week. The ferry M/V Cathlamet ran into the ferry terminal in Mukilteo at high speed last week and damaged a large group of pilings, called a dolphin.

The impact of the landing, which occurred just before 6 a.m., caused the dolphin to collapse, blocking the entrance to the slip. It was like pick-up sticks,� said ferry spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether describing how pulling out the debris only led to more collapses. A tug boat was on the scene later in the day to clear the dolphin out of the way and service resumed.

The wheel house crew was drug tested, a routine measure in cases such as the crash, Harris-Huether said. The captain of the M/V Cathlamet was been placed on paid leave.

She declined to comment on what the crew and the captain of the Cathlamet said about the crash until the investigation is completed. "“Someone's career is at stake here",� she said. The cause of the accident is still unknown. Washington State Ferries is conducting an investigation with the help of the Coast Guard and the Washington State Patrol.

“It'll take about two weeks, Harris-Huether said. "They have to interview a lot of eyewitnesses and crew...review tapes and recordings. I don't expect to hear anything for about two weeks."�

After the ferry crashed, it stranded commuters for hours in Clinton and Mukilteo. By late afternoon, regular crossings every 30 minutes had been restored for Clinton and Mukilteo passengers.

However, because the M/V Cathlamet was out of commission for repairs, ferries from other routes were shifted due to the Mukilteo accident, which led to delays and grumpy drivers elsewhere. Several vessels are being rerouted within the ferry system to replace the damaged ferry.

Ferries from the San Juan Islands, Port Townsend/Keystone and from the Port Townsend/San Juan routes were sent to Clinton to fill in for the Cathlamet. The Clinton/Mukilteo run is a high priority crossing and one of the state's busiest. The route carried more than 4 million riders in 2005 and more than 2.2 million vehicles.

"“It's not the impact on the route, but it's the impact on the number of people,"� Harris-Huether said.

The top three routes in Washington, which include the Mukilteo/Clinton run, transport 62 percent of all passengers in the ferry system. How long it will take to repair the Cathlamet is unclear. Harris-Huether said it was too early to tell if the damage to the ship was only cosmetic or structural.

The cost of the accident is also unclear at this point.

The Cathlamet has seen rough sailing before. In September 1986, the propulsion system of the ferry malfunctioned and the boat crashed into the dock in Clinton, causing at least $500,000 damage. However, the damage to the dock was much more substantial.

'He was really moving,' says ferry crash witness; A boat that can carry heavy weekend traffic is being brought in today
By Jackson Holtz, Everett Herald Writer
Published: Saturday, June 2, 2007

MUKILTEO - Eating breakfast and reading the paper Friday morning, Chuck Atterson couldn't believe the view from his waterfront condo.

"I saw a boat coming too fast into the dock," he said.

The ferry Cathlamet hit with such force that its stern visibly rose.

Just before 6 a.m., the ferry crashed into the Mukilteo landing, destroying part of the wooden structure. Motorcycles and passengers tumbled to the deck, officials and witnesses said.

Ferry service out of Mukilteo was shut down for about six hours Friday as crews cleared debris from a ruined part of the dock, known as a dolphin.

Normally a collection of pilings standing above the water, the collapsed dolphin on Friday resembled a giant game of floating pick-up sticks. Tugboats corralled the flotsam.

A ferry worker waiting on shore ran from the landing as the big boat came barreling in, said Max Minnich, who witnessed the crash from his nearby condo.

He could hear the engines roar as the captain tried to slow the massive vessel.

"He wasn't going just a little bit fast, he was really moving," Minnich said.

Aboard the ferry, Jason Sydnor was first in line to drive off his motorcycle.

"I remember reaching for the bike. The bike lurched forward and fell over and drug me over with it," he said.

The bike slid about 15 feet across the deck, Sydnor said.

"Everybody was, like, 'What the heck just happened?' "

No serious injures were reported, Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether said.

Sydnor said he had back pain after the crash and was to visit a doctor Friday afternoon to have a checkup.

The 328-foot Issaquah-class vessel appeared to be traveling at excessive speed, and the Coast Guard and state ferry officials were investigating what happened, Harris-Huether said.

The collision punched a hole in the hull, but well above the water line, she said. The boat was taken to Clinton for an investigation. It is now in Everett awaiting repairs.

All members of the crew, including the captain, were tested for drugs, standard protocol in accident investigations, Harris-Huether said.

When the Issaquah-class ferries were launched in the early 1980s, there were steering problems, Washington State Ferries Capt. Pete Williams said.

Those problems were addressed, he said.

"Over the past 20-some years, they haven't had any more issues than any other boats," he said.

The boats have propellers in the bow and stern, he said. When docking, the bow propeller is supposed to run in reverse and act as a brake.

All the steering systems have manual backups, he said.

It was too early to tell what caused the crash Friday, he said.

Investigators will review the global-positioning system on the ferry. That tracks the vessel's location and speed, Harris-Huether said.

On Friday, the ferry Kitsap, which shares the route with the Cathlamet, made a couple of unscheduled runs to Edmonds while the Mukilteo landing was closed.

Tim and Mary Jo Keil walked on the Kitsap in Clinton expecting to walk off in Mukilteo, where they keep a car.

When the boat changed course, they searched for another way to get to Mukilteo.

"I knew if we started asking, we'd find a ride," Tim Keil said.

Mary Jo Keil said the infrequent inconveniences caused by ferry mishaps are part of living on Whidbey Island.

"It happens, and that's what you come to expect," she said.

Some people didn't wait for ferry service to resume. They drove to the island over Deception Pass, a more than 60-mile detour through Snohomish and Skagit counties.

Others had no choice but to wait on the dock until ferry service resumed by midafternoon.

Donna Johnson, a walk-on passenger, enjoyed the sunshine, a book and an Ivar's lunch while she waited to get back on the island.

"What are you going to do?" she said. "Being upset isn't going to do anything.

"When you commute like this, you get used to things like this and you just deal with it."

Ferry shuffle

Service has been restored on the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry run after Friday's crash, but only by moving vessels around Puget Sound. The ferry Nisqually was taken off the Port Townsend to Keystone run and sent to the San Juan Islands, leaving the Keystone route with one boat in service.

The Evergreen State was sent to Mukilteo from the San Juans. That boat was to be sent to Vashon Island Friday night and replaced on the Mukilteo run by the Issaquah, a larger boat, better suited to serve heavy weekend volumes.

The ferry that crashed, the Cathlamet, is expected to be out of service for about two weeks, officials said.

Sort of like Martin Road (only history, not Native Americans so far), or the cell tower at the transfer station...
Mukilteo ferry, transit terminal in doubt; Discovery of ancient Indian village threatens to derail new ferry dock
By Jerry Cornfield and Scott Pesznecker, Herald Writer
Published: Saturday, March 17, 2007

MUKILTEO - Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an American Indian village in the same area where the state plans to construct a new ferry terminal and transit hub. Three sites potentially contain enough culturally significant artifacts to merit listing on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a draft report sent to tribes and state and federal transportation officials in January.

An archeological find of that magnitude will delay and could endanger years of work on a project with $148 million in state and federal funding, legislators said.

"I'm surprised the investigations hadn't been done much earlier and now it puts in jeopardy a 20-year process," said Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-Mukilteo and a former mayor of the city.

"The question now is what happens to that pot of money," he said. "Does it stay with the project?"

No human remains were unearthed, but it is expected some will eventually be recovered on the site. For hundreds of years this area served as a gathering place for tribes, including those who attended and participated in the signing of the Point Elliot treaty in 1855, tribal and state officials said.

"It only stands to reason something would be found," said Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip. Members of the tribe are consulting with the Federal Transit Agency overseeing the archaeological assessment. McCoy said one of the sites has been characterized to him as a midden and remnants of fishing nets and other implements of daily life were among the excavated items. A midden is a mound of refuse discarded by a prehistoric settlement.

"We need to explore what we have, and we want to do this rationally not emotionally," he said.

Allyson Brooks, the state's historic preservation officer, raised the possibility with state transportation officials after reading in the initial investigation of the amount of mammal bone implements discovered during testing.

"Given the well-documented preservation of bone we expect that there are human remains somewhere on the site," Allyson Brooks wrote to Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald in a Jan. 22 e-mail.

The Federal Transit Administration, which is overseeing the environmental and archaeological studies at the site, would not comment on whether remnants of a village have been found. Investigations at the site are ongoing, an administration spokesman said. Complete results are expected in June as part of the federal agency's draft environmental impact statement for the project.

Another delay

Finding cultural resources heaps additional delay on an undertaking already months behind schedule.

The city and state are looking to relocate the existing Mukilteo ferry terminal onto a former fuel depot owned by the U.S. Air Force. The new facility would have two dock slips and be a hub for buses. Also planned is an overhead pedestrian bridge connecting ferry riders with a Sounder train station.

No American Indian tribal remains have been found at the site of the planned train station. Construction on a loading platform is scheduled to start there this summer, said Bruce Gray, a spokesman for Sound Transit. The ferry terminal project, known as Mukilteo Landing, is considered a crucial piece of the city's plan to revitalize its Old Town.

The state Department of Transportation intended to start work in 2008 and finish in 2010. It now appears work won't begin in earnest before the next decade. Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed transportation budget calls for postponing construction two years into the budget cycle beginning July 1, 2009. It's based on a completely different concern - the fuel depot property has not been transferred to the Port of Everett. That deal won't be consummated before next year, state and port officials said.

"The property transfer is of the biggest concern right now," said Kerry Ruth, project manager of the state transportation department.

On Monday, the House of Representatives is expected to release its proposed transportation spending plan. Supporters of the Mukilteo project will be looking for its inclusion. The plan will include $5 million for archaeological assessment and tribal relations, an indication the cultural resource issue is a pressing concern, too. Tulalip tribal chairman Stan Jones said the site near Elliot Point was once a large American Indian village. He said he expects archaeologists will find remains of longhouses and other structures there.

Tribal members were forced to abandon the site when they were moved to their reservation in the years after the treaty was signed in 1855, Jones said.

"It was a meeting place," he said. "When we signed the Treaty of Point Elliot, that's where we all gathered. It was more or less a gathering village."

Previous discoveries

This isn't the first time that American Indian history has been found at a major transportation project in the state. State crews in 2003 unearthed an ancient village called Tse-whit-zen belonging to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

The discovery was made while excavating a graving dock in Port Angeles for construction of new Hood Canal bridge pontoons. The state was forced to abandon the project location in December 2004. Last month, Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine and several city council members drove to Olympia to discuss the project with Gregoire, MacDonald and dozens of lawmakers who sit on the House and Senate transportation committees.

That's when city leaders first learned about an archaeological find on the property.

"As a city official, I'm worried this may delay things, but if there are any significant archaeological findings, I don't think it would be appropriate for us to destroy that or treat it disrespectfully," City Councilman Marko Liias said.

If there does turn out to be a large archaeological find, that could bolster the city's argument that the state should spend an additional $16 million to build the terminal's holding lanes over the water, Marine said.

"Certainly, it makes more sense to lower the footprint," he said.

"It would be sad after going through all of this, and the (land) transfer, getting the tanks removed and everything else to not have any access to the site," Marine said.

Sounder projects chugging ahead; Sound Transit plans to start work on new stations in Mukilteo and Edmonds in 2007.
By Lukas Velush, Herald Writer
Published: Monday, January 1, 2007

Sound Transit's commuter rail trains chug through Mukilteo every weekday without ever stopping.

That likely will soon change.

After years of discussing where to build a station, transit officials now know where the $18.2 million station will be built, and work likely will start this spring.

"We've wanted to have service in Mukilteo ever since we started Sounder between Everett and Seattle," said Bruce Gray, a Sound Transit spokesman. "It has just been a very tough nut to crack because there have been so many entities involved."

Construction of the Sounder station is just one of many projects that Sound Transit has planned for Snohomish County in 2007. The agency expects to launch or continue working on Snohomish County projects that together cost more than $100 million, Gray said. The new Mukilteo station likely will load its first passenger onto a Sounder train in early to mid-2008, shortly after construction of the first of two loading platforms is expected to finish, Gray said.

A second platform on the other side of the tracks and a pedestrian bridge to connect the two aren't scheduled to open until the second half of 2009. Among other projects Sound Transit plans to tackle in 2007, construction is expected to start on a permanent Sounder station in Edmonds by the end of the year, Gray said. The hope is to open the $12.9 million station by the end of 2008.

Sound Transit has used a temporary loading platform in Edmonds since service started in 2003. As in Mukilteo, construction has been delayed to give Burlington Northern Santa Fe time to sort out how it wants to realign its tracks through the area, Gray said. Also in 2007, Sound Transit hopes to add two more round-trip trains to the two trains it now runs from Everett to Seattle, Gray said.

"We're still in the negotiations with Burlington Northern to get that third train on as soon as possible," Gray said. "We're optimistic by the middle of '07."

The agency's original goal had been to get both trains rolling by the end of 2007, but now it looks like the second one may not start service until sometime in 2008. Gray said the agency remains hopeful that both will run by the end of 2007.

Provisions in the $258 million agreement between the two agencies require that at least one new train start running by August 2008, two years after Sound Transit obtained all the permits the railroad needed to make improvements to the track.

"(The railroad) has always been a good partner for us, and that's why we're working with them to move up that window," Gray said. Adding more trains will give riders more flexibility, which the agency hopes will boost the number of daily riders, Gray said. Currently, about 365 people per day ride the two trains. In the beginning, the new Mukilteo Station likely will bring in an extra 100 people per day, and as many as 250 per day by 2030, agency officials said.

Sound Transit also plans to work on the following projects in 2007:

* Construction will continue on a $30.2 million park-and-ride in the middle of I-5 at 112th Street SE in south Everett.

The project started this year and is expected to finish in mid- to late 2008, Gray said.

Ramps connecting the park-and-ride to I-5's carpool lanes are planned, and 112th Street is scheduled to be widened to six lanes, said Travis Phelps, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. The state and the city of Everett are partnering with Sound Transit on the project.

* Construction on two new parking lots and a pedestrian bridge at Everett Station is budgeted for $26.8 million, Gray said. Construction is expected to start in mid-2007 and finish in early 2008.

Between the two new parking lots, busy Everett Station will get 770 new parking stalls. The pedestrian bridge will connect one of the parking lots to the station.

* Construction of the Canyon Park Freeway Station on I-405 is expected to finish in summer 2007, Gray said.

Already well under way, the $10.7 million project includes bus stations on either side of I-405 at its intersection with the Bothell-Everett Highway. A pedestrian bridge will connect the two stations.

Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush

Local projects lose federal aid; Congressional inaction takes away $8 million for U.S. 2 and other work
By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer
December 19, 2006

EVERETT - The failure of Congress to pass a budget means a loss of federal aid for safety improvements on U.S. 2, a new style of bus service on Highway 99 and a transportation center at the Mukilteo ferry terminal. Also gone are dollars to prepare high school students for college, dredge part of the Snohomish River and construct a truck bypass around the heart of Granite Falls. Nearly $8 million for 13 projects in Snohomish County are a casualty of congressional inaction.

"It's very difficult. Every district in the country is going to take a hit," U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said Monday.

The reason is a lack of a federal budget, he said. Congress passed only two of the 11 spending bills needed to run the government before it adjourned Dec. 9. Those were for defense and homeland security, and President Bush signed both. The Republican-controlled Congress kept government running by approving funding for the other departments through Feb. 15, 2007. Earmarks - often dubbed pork by congressional critics - are funds targeted for specific programs in lawmakers' states.

When Democrats assume majority control of Congress in January, they could work to adopt a budget with the designated funding but will not, Larsen said. It is a time-consuming process of negotiating with every member, he said. This would derail Democrats from trying to raise the minimum wage, increase financial aid for college students and debate policy changes for the conduct of the Iraq war.

Party leaders intend to pass another "continuing resolution" to cover federal government spending through Sept. 30, the last day of the fiscal year, he said. This means $500,000 for U.S. 2 projects secured by Larsen in the transportation budget is gone.

"It is a big disappointment because we were hopeful that money would draw attention to the fact that we need safety improvements now, not 10 years from now," said Sultan Police Chief Fred Walser. Making matters worse, those federal dollars would have been matched with cash from Snohomish County. The County Council has approved a $1.5 million grant for safety improvements on the stretch of two-lane highway between Everett and Skykomish on which 43 people have died since 1999.

County Councilman Dave Somers said the county money "is not going to go away" and should still be available if federal funds do become available in the future. U.S. 2 is not the only lost earmark in the county. Community Transit won't be receiving $1 million for its bus rapid transit project set for launch in 2008. This is to be a much-enhanced service along Highway 99, with buses making stops at 26 designated stations between Everett and Seattle. Nearly $20 million is committed for the project. The price tag is between $25 million and $30 million, said Community Transit spokesman Martin Munguia.

"The $1 million (in federal money) is not going to make or break the project, but it is a piece of the puzzle," he said. "If it is possible to get it in 2008, we would not lose anything."

Similarly, losing out on $650,000 won't impede progress on the terminal project in Mukilteo. It is estimated as a $147 million undertaking, with construction slated to start in 2008 and wrap up two years later. When the project is complete, Mukilteo will have a new passenger terminal with links to bus service and Sounder trains.

"While we hate to see it go, we're hopeful Rep. Larsen goes to bat for us again," said Bill Green, budget director for Washington State Ferries. Larsen said smaller communities across the county and the country will feel the loss of the funds. Democrats want a reform of the process of earmarks, so more is known about each legislator's request.

One year without them "is a small price to pay" to clean up the budget mess, Larsen said.

What's affected

Federal funding earmarked for several projects in Snohomish County won't be arriving as hoped because Congress did not pass a budget. Here are a few of the affected programs and projects:

$895,000 for deepening a stretch of the Snohomish River and the east waterway along the Everett waterfront

$150,000 for Everett Community College's Early College High School Initiative

$500,000 for safety improvements on U.S. 2.

$650,000 for the Mukilteo Multimodal Terminal Redevelopment project

$2 million to Granite Falls for an alternate route for truck traffic around the city center

$1 million to Community Transit to buy vehicles for its bus rapid transit project

$1 million to the Tulalip Tribes for improvements to the interchange of I-5 and 116th Street NE

$600,000 to Everett Transit for replacement of buses and paratransit vehicles

$500,000 to Everett to assist in the renovation and expansion of the Everett Senior Activity Center

Fares daunt ferry riders; The state ferry system admits fare increases have cut into ridership numbers.
By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer
Published: Monday, May 29, 2006

To people waiting in long weekend ferry lines, it might seem ludicrous to suggest that ridership on Puget Sound ferries has declined for six straight years.

But rising gas prices, fare increases and a sluggish economy have conspired to discourage trips on each of the central Puget Sound runs, ferry officials said.

This doesn't mean the trend is a long-term one, ferry system spokeswoman Celia Schorr said.

"It doesn't necessarily predict what's going to happen," she said.

Last year, the Edmonds-Kingston run showed the sharpest dip of the six Puget Sound routes by far, a drop of 137,733 riders to 4.27 million from 4.41 million. The next largest drop was 32,647 for Seattle-Bainbridge, to 6.39 million from 6.42 million.

The Mukilteo-Clinton route lost 10,567 riders in 2005 from the year before, with its total still hovering at slightly more than 4 million.

Last year's figures for Port Townsend-Keystone weren't available, but that route lost 3.4 percent of its riders from 2001 through 2004, dropping to 792,486 from 820,167.

The ferry system carried 23.8 million riders in 2005, down from 26 million in the second half of 1998 and the first half of 1999.

Ferry officials explained the steeper decline on the central Sound routes as caused by higher fare increases there and the tendency of people who live farther south to drive rather than take the ferry when fares rise.

Fare prices have risen steadily since the revenue from the state car-tab tax was cut sharply in 2000. The most recent increase, a 6 percent hike, took effect May 1.

Since 2001, fares have risen more sharply on the longer routes, including the central Sound runs, to offset the cost of longer trips, according to the ferry system's Web site.

For Edmonds-Kingston, one-way winter rates have risen to $11.25 from $6.50 for car and driver in 1999. The summer rate, in effect from May 1 to the second Sunday in October, is $14.10. The per-passenger price has increased to $6.40, year-round from $3.70 in 1999.

Winter fares at Mukilteo-Clinton have risen to $6.65 one-way from $4.50 in 1999. The summer fare on the route now stands at $8.35. Passenger fares have risen to $3.85 from $2.50 in 1999.

Winter Port Townsend-Keystone fares have climbed to $8.70 from $6.50 in 1999. The current summer fare for car and driver is $10.90. Passenger fares have risen to $2.50 from $1.85.

Officials didn't have an explanation for Edmonds-Kingston's sharp drop last year compared with the Seattle routes. From 2001 through 2004, Seattle-Bainbridge saw the biggest drop, 6.9 percent. Edmonds-Kingston's decline over that same period was 6.3 percent, Mukilteo-Clinton's 2.9 percent.

Officials are sticking to their long-term prediction that population growth, especially on the Kitsap Peninsula, will cause ridership to rise 70 percent by 2030. Overall, last year's drop was lighter than the trend of the previous few years.

"The ridership is leveling off now," Schorr said. "The projections will be adjusted continually."

Latest News of Multi-modal Facility: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/mukilteoterminal/

Mukilteo endorses ferry plan; The City Council approves the state's proposal to move the landing and staging areas to the north.
By Bill Sheets, Everett, WA Herald Writer
Published: Monday, January 9, 2006

MUKILTEO - Even with a new, larger ferry terminal, wait times for the Mukilteo ferry will grow in the future. But the traffic waiting to board won't extend as far up the Mukilteo Speedway as it does now.

The city endorsed the state's plan to move the landing north to the site of a former fuel tank storage farm pier. The state's latest plan for rebuilding the Mukilteo ferry terminal calls for a 260-vehicle holding platform to be built over the water. That would allow more space on land for shops and open space and keep the line shorter on the Speedway.

Construction on the dock and holding platform is scheduled to begin in 2008 and be finished in 2010. The terminal would be located about where the old fuel tank farm pier joins the beach. The price tag for the state-funded project is estimated at $140 million to $171 million.

A pedestrian bridge is planned to connect the ferry terminal with Sound Transit's planned $13 million commuter rail station, set to open for service in 2007.

What's in store

The planned ferry station in Mukilteo, if approved, would include:
* A 260-vehicle holding area over the water
* Two terminal buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge, similar in appearance to the top of the Everett Events Center
* An outdoor promenade
* Pick-up and drop-off area
* Short-term parking
* A slip for a third boat (dependent on funding)
* 400-stall commuter parking garage (dependent on funding)

State ferry officials unveiled the plan to Mukilteo elected officials this week. City Council members unanimously endorsed it. Another option, to build the holding lanes on shore east of the terminal, would cost $15 million to $18 million less. But state and city officials still prefer the overwater holding area.

"It's important for us to align ourselves with the city of Mukilteo's vision of how you want to improve your waterfront," said Nicole McIntosh, who is directing the project for the ferry system. Mayor Joe Marine applauded the state's commitment to the overwater parking.

"It was good to hear they're going to continue with that" as opposed to opting for the cheaper alternative, he said. The Port of Everett owns the adjacent land and plans to redevelop it with retail stores, open space and condominiums. City officials have said they want more shops and open space and fewer condos. No formal plan has been adopted.

Plans for the terminal include a second slip, needed for a third ferry in the future, and a 400-stall commuter parking garage. But the ferry system can't afford those features at this time, officials said. The state has $138 million secured and is looking for more, said Kerry Ruth, manager for the Mukilteo terminal project. The city is applying for a $10 million grant to help, Marine said.

With continued population growth on Whidbey Island, the new terminal won't create a perfect world for ferry commuters, but it will keep it from getting worse. In 2004, 2.2 million vehicles used the Mukilteo ferry dock. By 2030, that figure is expected to rise to 3 million.

If the current terminal were to remain in use, the line on the shoulder of the Mukilteo Speedway could extend nearly to 84th Street SW - nearly two miles - at peak times by 2010, ferry officials say. By 2030, it would extend nearly another mile, past 92nd Street SW. With the new terminal, lines would extend about a half-mile by 2010 and about a mile, to Clover Lane, by 2030, according to ferry service calculations. In 2003, it extended considerably farther, past Olympic View Middle School.

The 2030 estimate assumes the addition of a third ferry.

Other features of the new complex include two terminal buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge, an outdoor promenade, a pick-up and drop-off area and seven bus bays.

Sen. Haugen: State can’t wait forever for new ferries
South Whidbey RECORD
By Brian Kelly
Dec 22 2007

COUPEVILLE — State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen lambasted critics this week who are second guessing the move to spend $100 million on new ferries.

The Camano Island Democrat also had harsh words for Washington State Ferries, which she said is more focused on building new, multi-million-dollar ferry terminals than spending money to construct the vessels needed to ply the waters of Puget Sound.

In late November, vehicle-ferry service between Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula was shut down due to extensive damage to the steel hulls of the state’s Steel Electric ferries.

Last week, Gov. Christine Gregoire announced she would put $100 million in the 2008 supplemental state budget to pay for new ferries that are needed now that the state has permanently pulled its four Steel Electrics from service.

The state is looking for a quick fix to get car-carrying vessels in place that can serve the Keystone-Port Townsend route. But some have questioned whether the move to build a smaller 54-car ferry within the next two years is the right way to go.

At a “council of governments” meeting Wednesday, Haugen defended the plan for new ferries. It’s no surprise that the Steel Electrics — which were built in 1927 — need to be replaced, she said.

“People have grumbled a lot about the ferries, there’s no question about it,” Haugen said. “People say, ‘How did we get to where we are?’ Well, the fact of the matter is, we’ve always known the Steel Electrics needed to be replaced.”

She recounted how the state ferry system wanted one size of boats — ones that can carry 144 vehicles — and also wanted to move the Keystone terminal.

“There isn’t enough money, or enough time, to move that terminal. You who live here know that people weren’t supportive of it.”

The ferry system also figured funding for the project was available. It wasn’t, said Haugen, D-10th District.

“We all have heartburn over the fact that it’s a smaller boat,” Haugen said, adding that some within Washington State Ferries are resistant to the plan for smaller vessels.

“As far as the seaworthiness of it, I can tell you, the ferry system does not like the way we’re going. And so the ferry system is going to tell you all sorts of things, because they want to do what they want to do,” Haugen told other elected officials at the meeting in Coupeville.

“We are finally telling the ferry system you’re going to do what needs to be done, not what you want to do. And so that’s why we are moving in this direction.

“These boats can be done fast,” she said. “We don’t need to wait.”

Haugen, who is chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said there are two issues: Getting boats back in service or waiting years for bigger vessels.

There is no sense in waiting for larger ferries because they can’t be used on the Keystone-Port Townsend route without a new terminal.

And a new terminal is not in the future, Haugen said. As it stands, the state will have to take money from the new terminal project in Mukilteo to pay for new ferries.

“We’re never going to be able to build a new (Keystone) terminal. The fact of the matter is, we’re going to be taking money out of Mukilteo,” she said.

She also criticized Washington State Ferries for its focus on multi-million dollar terminals.

“We need to build boats. The ferry system needs good boats. It doesn’t need fancy terminals. It needs safe terminals that work well.

“The most important thing to me is to get boats back on that run,” Haugen said.

State Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-10th District, however, said she didn’t want a short-term answer to a long-term problem.

“We’re going to have to live with it for a long time,” she said, adding that she has concerns about the size of the new ferries. “We’ll probably have — with those boats — more cancelled runs than we actually experienced in the past. That concerns me,” Bailey said.

“They are smaller boats, but they’re the only boats, I’m being told. This is the only design right now that can be done quickly, because it’s already been designed and built in the state,” Bailey said.

Bailey, though, was pressed if she agreed with the governor’s decision to spend $100 million on the new ferries.

“Right now, that’s the only proposal we have,” Bailey said.

Governor says state will spend $100 million on three new ferries
South Whidbey RECORD
3:00:07PM, Dec 13 2007

Gov. Chris Gregoire said today she will put $100 million in the 2008 supplemental state budget to pay for three new ferries.

The move would mean the retirement of the state's 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries, which were pulled out of service last month on the Port Townsend-Keystone run.

Gregoire also announced today that Washington will rent a ferry from Pierce County so auto-ferry service can be restarted on the Port Townsend-Keystone route by mid to late January.

The state has also signed a contract with Todd Pacific Shipyards to move forward with a procurement process for the new ferries.

“We must act now to replace older ferries with newer, safer and more efficient vessels,” Gregoire said.

“The Washington state ferry system is an integral part of the Puget Sound’s transportation infrastructure and a growing number of Washingtonians are coming to rely on them daily. I intend to maintain our current routes without sacrificing the safety of our citizens,” she said.

Gregoire will release her full supplemental budget proposal on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Keystone-Port Townsend run may have foot ferry today
Everett WA Herald
Associated Press
Nov. 25, 2007

PORT TOWNSEND -- The state ferry service says workers are making progress adjusting a moorage float at the Port Townsend terminal for a passenger-only ferry.

The deputy executive director, Traci Brewer-Rogstad, said there's a chance the foot-ferry Snohomish could start running today on the run to Keystone, on Whidbey Island.

She said a crew is being trained to operate the 350-passenger Snohomish, which has been out of service since 2003 when it was pulled off the Seattle-Bremerton route.

The Port Townsend-Keystone run has been shut down since Tuesday, when the ferry service decided to take its 80-year-old Steel-Electric Class ferries out of service because of hull corrosion.

Brewer-Rogstad said it probably will be February before a car ferry returns to the route. That would be the Quinault, which now is in a Seattle shipyard.

Ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris said the passenger-only ferry will try to keep to the same schedule the car ferry had.

While the Port Townsend-Keystone route has been down, there's been a surge in traffic on the Kingston-Edmonds run. Harris said a third ferry has been running since Wednesday on the Edmonds-Kingston run, which normally has two boats.

Ferries' 'worst-case scenario' comes true
By Scott North, Herald Writer
November 23, 2007

SEATTLE -- The emergency closure of the Keystone-to-Port Townsend ferry run because of concerns about the safety of leaking, 80-year-old ferries is a reality that state officials have been bracing for since at least the end of June.

State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond's decision to shut down the run Tuesday stunned many, particularly coming on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday rush. But Washington State Ferries' e-mails, public relations plans and other internal records show state officials all the way up to Gov. Chris Gregoire have spent months quietly preparing for a possible shutdown.

State ferries chief Mike Anderson four months ago wrote that the "worst-case scenario" for the ferry system would be to have Coast Guard inspectors order all four Steel Electric-class ferries pulled from service until expensive repairs could be made. His June 27 e-mail to state transportation leaders suggested that could happen at any time, perhaps even as early as the Fourth of July weekend.

"This is likely to be prohibitively expensive and would be devastating to our customers and the Port Townsend and Keystone communities," he wrote.

The Coast Guard didn't stop the ferries. Neither did Doug MacDonald, the former transportation secretary. It was Hammond -- just a month into her new job -- who ultimately decided the Klickitat, Quinault, Illahee and Nisqually needed to be pulled from the water for a closer look. Since the start of this year, nearly $4 million has been spent on emergency repairs to the aging vessels. What finally tipped the scale was word that ferry engineering crews believe extensive corrosion and pitting exists on the 1927-vintage riveted steel plates still found deep in ferries' hulls along the keels.

Closing the route "is very unfortunate," Hammond told reporters at a predawn press conference Wednesday on Seattle's Coleman Dock. "I want to apologize to all the people who want to use that route."

The run between Whidbey and Port Townsend had to be shut down because the Steel Electrics are the only vessels in the ferry fleet small and nimble enough to negotiate the narrow harbor at Keystone. Gregoire was concerned enough about a potential route closure that on Aug. 2 she directed state ferry officials to find an "immediate alternative" to continued reliance on the aging boats. One option she wanted explored was leasing a ferry from another country, a suggestion ferry officials determined wouldn't work because federal law prohibits using foreign-flagged vessels as ferries.

On Wednesday, the governor told KIRO (710 AM), The Herald's radio news partner, that finding a fix for the Steel Electrics will be a "top-safety priority" in the legislative session set to begin in January.

Hammond's decision to pull the Steel Electrics was necessary in part "because the age of these things alone calls them into question," Gregoire said.

"As inconvenient and unfortunate as this is, we have got to do everything we can to ensure safety," the governor said. "Imagine if somebody was injured, or worse. You can't just sit on the information. You have to take action."

Gregoire said she has been meeting with state legislative leaders in recent weeks, talking about possible changes to contracts approved in the spring for building 144-car ferries. Those vessels are too large to work at Keystone. Instead of sticking to that plan, the state would build a mix of vessels, including smaller ferries to replace the Steel Electrics, she said. Tuesday's decision to pull the Steel Electrics from service came in spite of an Oct. 30 report to the Legislature's Joint Transportation Committee that described the Steel Electrics as "generally considered to be in good condition."

That report followed months of assurances from MacDonald and other ferry system officials that the vessels are safe. Ferry system documents, obtained under state public records laws, include detailed plans for responding to a number of scenarios involving the Steel Electrics, including options for emergency route closures if the vessels had to be tied up for safety concerns. Until recently, ferry officials truly believed the vessels were safe to operate, although old, and in need of costly repairs and eventual replacement, said Marta Coursey, communications director for the ferry system.

"That gets at the heart of the matter that we have always faced and that is balancing safety with community need to keep those routes open," she said. "We have to be uncompromising about safety."

That message is featured prominently in the ferry system's "communications plan" for managing problems with the Steel Electrics.

The six-page document, which has undergone multiple revisions as more problems on the vessels have surfaced, is marked for "internal review only" although it has been shared with state lawmakers and leaders in communities with heavy ferry use, Coursey said. The Steel Electrics are the oldest ferries operating on salt water in the nation and haven't met federal safety standards since the 1950s. At least one state lawmaker has questions about why they were pulled now.

"Why did they wait so long to decide they were unsafe and why did they choose the day before Thanksgiving for a community that pretty much relies on the ferries for getting in and out?" asked state Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who serves on the House transportation committee.

"I hope they were not operating them unsafely knowingly," she said. "I'm kind of curious how they got by that long if they were that unsafe."

Ferry run between Port Townsend and Whidbey island suspended
BY RECORD STAFF
10:02:09AM, Nov 21 2007

Washington State Ferries pulled the ferries running between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island out of service Wednesday, leaving hundreds of commuters and holiday travelers stranded. The state ferry system said it would bring a passenger-only ferry to serve the Port Townsend-Keystone route, and add more sailings to the detour route at Edmonds-Kingston to handle holiday traffic. Washington State Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond announced Tuesday night that Washington State Ferries would pull all Steel Electric class vessels out of service after they complete their last run that day.

This means that the Port Townsend-Keystone car ferry route will be closed beginning Wednesday until further notice. The stop came without advance warning. Washington State Ferries runs four 80-year-old Steel Electric class vessels – Quinault, Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually. These vessels predominantly serve the Port Townsend-Keystone and San Juan Islands inter-island routes. They are the only ferries in the system capable of operating in Keystone’s narrow and shallow harbor.

“After meeting with staff concerning the most recent inspections of the Steel Electric hulls, I have decided that we must pull these ferries from service to examine each of the hulls more extensively,” Hammond said. “Ongoing work on the Quinault has revealed significant hull pitting along the keel that likely extends to all four Steel Electric vessels.”

Two Steel Electrics were operating – the Klickitat on the Port Townsend-Keystone route and the Illahee on the San Juan Islands inter-island route. The Klickitat was removed from the Port Townsend-Keystone route at the end of the service Tuesday and the Illahee was tied up at Anacortes after its last sailing Tuesday.

“Safety is our number one priority,” Hammond said. “It cannot be compromised. We have kept up with the repairs on these vessels, but we are at a turning point that requires emergency action."

To help lessen the impacts of the loss of passenger-vehicle service on Port Townsend-Keystone, the ferry system will operate three vessels on the Edmonds-Kingston route through Sunday evening, Nov. 25 to handle the extra traffic expected over the Thanksgiving weekend. The route is the best detour for people traveling from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island, ferry officials said.

Further, they'll run the high-speed passenger ferry Snohomish between Port Townsend and Keystone.

“I realize the timing of this couldn’t be worse,” Hammond said. “It is Thanksgiving weekend. We are doing everything we can to make this easier on the traveling public and the communities we serve.”

Ferry officials said they are making every attempt to have the service up and running by Friday, Nov. 23 to serve customers during their Thanksgiving travel. The passenger ferry will maintain the current schedule.

“We are working with local transit agencies as well as major local employers to help arrange transportation connections on both sides of the route,” said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, deputy executive director for Washington State Ferries.

Keystone ferry route closed
Whidbey News-Times
By Jim Larsen
9:03:30AM, Nov 21 2007

Lew Barmon was a lonely man early Wednesday morning, standing in the ticket booth at the Keystone ferry dock with no customers in sight.

He fully expected a busy pre-holiday day as he drove to work from Clinton that morning, but a few minutes before his 6:15 shift began he heard the news on his car radio: His ferry route had been closed the night before due to safety concerns surrounding the ancient ferries that are assigned to it, and the route wouldn't open at least until Friday if the ferry system could get a passenger-only boat operating by then.

In the first hour of his shift, Barmon had to tell only a few people that the route was closed. "They took it pretty well," he said. "It's amazing how many people have heard about this." The closure was made with only a few hours' notice, but it did make it onto the evening TV news shows Tuesday.

"This is going to disrupt travel plans for a lot of people," Barmon said. Not only was it the day before Thanksgiving, but the route to Port Townsend and the Olympic Peninsula is being used by a growing number of commuters. Ten frost-covered commuter cars were parked by the side of the road, and one could only guess what happened to the owners. Had they been stranded in Port Townsend, or were they on their way home via the Kingston-Edmonds ferry route, which is operating with three, rather than two, vessels to handle the expected traffic increase? That roundabout trip also entails taking another ferry from Mukilteo to get back to Whidbey Island.

Paula Hammond, Washington Secretary of Transportation, announced the route closure late Tuesday afternoon, saying the ferry system "will pull all of the Steel Electric class vessels out of service after they complete their runs today. This decision means that the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry route will be closed beginning tomorrow until further notice."

Washington State Ferries owns four 80-year-old Steel Electric class boats, the Quinault, Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually.

"This couldn't have happened at a worse time of the year with the holidays coming up," said State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen.

She equated the ferry route closing to the loss of the bridge and that it's a crisis for Whidbey Island.

"We're in emergency mode as far as I'm concerned," Haugen said.

She said she didn't have a lot of information yet and will be meeting with transportation officials Monday.

These vessels predominantly serve the Port Townsend-Keystone and San Juan Islands inter-island routes. They are the only automobile ferries in the system capable of operating in Keystone’s narrow and shallow harbor.

However, the old ferries have become notorious in recent months after springing a number of hull leaks that interrupted service temporarily several times. Recent revelations in the media, with reporting led by The Herald of Everett, suggested that the ferries' hulls may be in worse shape than ferry officials reported to the Legislature.

Hammond made the closure call. "After meeting with staff concerning the most recent inspections of the Steel Electric hulls, I have decided that we must pull these ferries from service to examine each of the hulls more extensively,” she said in a news release. “Ongoing work on the Quinault has revealed significant hull pitting along the keel that likely extends to all four Steel Electric vessels.”

As of Tuesday, two Steel Electrics were operating – the Klickitat on the Port Townsend-Keystone route and the Illahee on the San Juan Islands inter-island route. The Klickitat was removed from the Port Townsend-Keystone route at the end of the service day Tuesday and the Illahee will be tied up at Anacortes after its last sailing tonight. On Wednesday afternoon, November 21, the Evergreen State will begin providing service on the San Juan Islands inter-island route.

“Safety is our number one priority,” said Hammond. “It cannot be compromised. We have kept up with the repairs on these vessels, but we are at a turning point that requires emergency action.

“I realize the timing of this couldn’t be worse,” added Hammond. “It is Thanksgiving weekend. We are doing everything we can to make this easier on the traveling public and the communities we serve.”

To help lessen the impacts of the loss of passenger-vehicle service on Port Townsend-Keystone, WSF will:

• Operate three vessels on the Edmonds-Kingston route from Wednesday, Nov. 21, to Sunday evening, Nov. 25, to handle the extra traffic expected over the Thanksgiving weekend. This route is the best detour for people traveling from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island.

• Operate the high-speed passenger ferry Snohomish between Port Townsend and Keystone. The ferry system is making every attempt to have the service up and running by Friday, Nov. 23, to serve customers during their Thanksgiving travel. The passenger ferry will maintain the current schedule.

“We are working with local transit agencies as well as major local employers to help arrange transportation connections on both sides of the route,” said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, State Ferries' deputy executive director and chief of staff, in the news release.

“I have asked the ferry system to work with local shipyards to fast track a solution to get car ferry service back on this route as quickly as possible,” said Hammond. “Our first priority is to assess the full range of hull pitting in each vessel and determine the extent and the cost of needed repairs. Depending on what is found, the next step will be repair or retirement of the Steel Electrics.

“Our second priority is to expedite the vessel procurement process and to secure funding for new vessels on the Port Townsend-Keystone route. We are also researching the feasibility of hull replacement of the existing Steel Electrics, which might accelerate the timeframe for new vessels.” Hammond said, “We are making these decisions with customer safety first in our mind.”

Published: Monday, May 2, 2005
Ferry fares rise with more to come; Many riders on the Mukilteo ferry aren't happy about the seasonal surcharge and are even less so about an increase coming June 1.
By Bill Sheets, Everett Herald Writer

MUKILTEO - Reaction among ferry riders Sunday to the first of two planned fare increases ranged from irritation to philosophical acceptance.
Drivers began paying higher seasonal rates Sunday to get to or from Whidbey Island on the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry.

"I think it's a dirty, rotten thing," said Glenda Johnson of Freeland, waiting in her car at the Mukilteo ferry dock. "I hate it."

An annual, seasonal increase of 25 percent, for vehicle-and-driver only, began Sunday and will remain in effect until Oct. 9. An across-the-board increase of 6 percent takes effect June 1. The seasonal increase does not apply to auto passengers, foot passengers or those who purchase "frequent user" ticket booklets. On the San Juan Islands routes, the increase is 35 percent for car and driver and 20 percent for passengers.

"I think it's too big a jump," said Jo-Ann Christen, who lives part time on Whidbey Island and part time in Seattle. "Maybe a small increase."

The seasonal hike is driven by demand rather than cost, said ferry system spokeswoman Susan Harris-Huether. The ferry system has to hire extra help for the summer, but not until June, she said. The permanent increase June 1 is cost-driven, Harris-Huether said, and will apply to all riders on all routes. Most riders interviewed Sunday knew this increase was coming, but a few didn't.

"Holy moly," said Doc Truesdale of Maryland, who uses the ferries as part of his job for the Department of Defense.

"Yikes, I'm glad I don't ride the ferry daily," said Barbara Renaux of Coupeville.

The ferry system was hit hard by the passage of Initiative 695, the Tim Eyman car-tab measure that dramatically reduced that source of revenue. The ferries also are affected by increases in fuel costs, Harris-Huether said.

"The Legislature has told us we need to pay more of our operating costs through the fare box," she said. "Nobody likes it." The goal is for the ferry system to pay 80 percent of its costs through fares, Harris-Huether said. Currently the figure is about 72 percent.

Don Bergquist of Freeland said he understands the need for the increase. "The problem is there's just not enough revenue coming in to the state to keep it all going, so they're going to have to put in user fees," he said. "There's not much we can do about it." Some riders said island residents, or all who live in the state, should be exempt.

"I think the tourists should pay the increase and not us islanders," Johnson said. Riders who buy frequent-user books, good for 10 round trips in a 90-day period, receive 20 percent off, Harris-Huether said. With the seasonal increase, they're getting 45 percent off, she said.

Having a discount for local residents, such as those on Whidbey Island, would raise fairness issues for people in other parts of the state who pay taxes but rarely ride the ferries, Harris-Huether said. Any such discount would have to be approved by the Legislature, she said.

Mukilteo parking issue draws a big crowd to Clinton
By ROY JACOBSON, South Whidbey Record Reporter
Jun 20 2009, 8:00 AM · NEW

There was lingering frustration but few answers as Whidbey commuters who face the loss of their parking places in Mukilteo packed Clinton Community Hall on Wednesday night.

Nearly 150 people met with Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine and five members of the Mukilteo City Council, who tried to smooth feathers over the pending loss of commuter parking on the other side of the water.

It’s been a contentious issue, and islanders were reminded to pull their punches. David Welton, a physician who commutes regularly and organized the meeting, urged that a “collegial atmosphere” be maintained.

“We don’t want this to be like Jerry Springer,” he said.

Also attending the meeting were Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen of Camano, state Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton and representatives of Washington State Ferries, the state Department of Transportation, Community Transit, and other local transportation agencies.

None stepped forward with a solution.

“Whose job is it?” someone shouted from the audience. “Who’s our advocate?”

“It’s my job,” Price Johnson finally said,

agreeing that the transportation situation is a regional issue, and that the commuter situation had fallen through the cracks.

She said she would continue to work with Mukilteo officials and others to try to locate “pockets of parking” in Mukilteo to accommodate at least some commuters in the short run.

Marine pushed for harmony.

“Working together would be better than both sides of the water fighting each other,” said the embattled mayor, whose previous statements drew indignant responses from islanders.

Marine had said that it isn’t Mukilteo’s responsibility to provide parking.

He also indicated that the city might be more responsive if islanders were more sensitive to the difficulties faced by city residents as a result of the ferry traffic.

The loss of parking creates a dilemma for commuters who keep cars in Mukilteo.

Some at the meeting said taking their cars on the ferry would add an intolerable expense and length of time to their travels.

Others said the loss of parking in Mukilteo may force them to move off the island.

“I need to be able to drive my car and support my family,” said Kelle Vandenberg of Langley.

Still others said that Mukilteo is adding to its traffic woes by eliminating parking spaces.

“Mukilteo’s number-one complaint is the ferry line, and this will make it much worse,” said Brian Maddux of Clinton. “This is damaging both communities.”

Some urged that the state buy property for a commuter parking lot.

“The state is not responsible for parking,” responded Haugen, the chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee. “You’ve got to understand that. It’s not a transportation issue, it’s a land issue.”

A suggestion that the reservation system being considered for ferry users might be the answer to islanders facing longer commutes was greeted with loud boos.

“There’s your answer,” someone shouted.

Marine said the best solution would be a long-range one, moving the ferry terminal and building a parking garage, a costly proposition that would take years.

“The idea of building a new terminal is a very long way off,” Haugen said. “You don’t want your ferry rates raised, and we don’t have a lot of money.”

For years, as many as 300 islanders have kept vehicles in Mukilteo so they could walk aboard the ferry without waiting in long lines.

Marine and other officials at Wednesday’s meeting said commuters might work with area transit systems to use vans that could be kept in Mukilteo.

“I’d rather see one van parked overnight than five or six cars,” Marine said.

But Michael Klim of Langley, who commutes to Everett, said many commuters travel at different times, making vanpool and bus scheduling difficult.

“You’re not looking at it as a whole,” Klim added. “South Whidbey needs Mukilteo, and without South Whidbey, Mukilteo would be a gulch.”

“Build a bridge,” suggested Mark Sayko of Clinton.

“I’ve got my piece of Whidbey Island. I don’t care if there are more tourists from Georgia,” he said.

More practically, he and others urged that a priority boarding pass be created to cut down on commuter travel.

“I’ll pay extra for that, since I won’t have to pay for parking,” Sayko said.

Mukilteo ferry dock could face cutbacks; If projects there and in Edmonds are scaled back, officials worry their cities won't have the modern waterfront areas they want.
By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer
Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007

It's an ambitious dream: Ferry riders in Mukilteo strolling among shops, plazas and walkways along the waterfront while waiting for the next boat, enjoying the view.

Others would spend time there as well - and money, some of which would land in the city's bank account. In Edmonds, the vision is equally large. A lively new transportation center would be built at the south end of the city. The drab vehicle holding area near its current ferry dock would be redeveloped to unify the city's waterfront and downtown.

Mukilteo and Edmonds are home to Snohomish County's two ferry terminals. Each would be a regional transportation hub where riders could make easy connections among ferries, buses and trains. Now, rising construction costs and funding shortages could force the state to cut back or delay its grand plans in Mukilteo, Edmonds and throughout the system. Ferry riders will almost certainly pick up part of the slack.

"It seems like every year there's another increase," said Dan Mock of Langley, who regularly uses the Mukilteo-Clinton route.

To help pay for the improvements and regular maintenance, Gov. Chris Gregoire wants to raise ferry fares 21/2 percent each year, said Doug McDonald, state transportation secretary. That alone won't pay for everything the state wants to do with the ferry system, McDonald said. In all, the state plans to rebuild or refurbish seven of the 20 terminals over the next 16 years. Four new boats are planned as well.

Between the additions and regular maintenance, the state expects to need $2.3 billion for the ferry system through 2023. Dock improvements planned through 2021 are estimated at $516.3 million. This has prompted state legislators and ferry officials to take a closer look at the system's financing, reviewing costs, improvements, ridership assumptions and the analysis that goes into them.

"There's some question about whether (the proposals are) too ambitious," said state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island.

New vision for Mukilteo

Mukilteo has high hopes for the ferry terminal plan. Because the city lacks a true downtown, officials hope new development on the waterfront can make it Mukilteo's focal point.

The state's proposal calls for moving the ferry dock farther east to the former Air Force fuel depot. The key piece, Mukilteo city officials say, is to build holding lanes for 260 vehicles on a pier over the water. This saves the rest of the fuel depot land for shops, condos, plazas and walkways. Cutting the pier from the plans deals a fatal blow to the city's waterfront dream. Mukilteo already pulls its share in the regional transportation network, said state Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-Mukilteo, and a former mayor.

"Mukilteo's been a good player, a good neighbor. We've got trains, planes, automobiles and buses," he said. "Somehow Mukilteo needs to benefit from accepting a regional transportation hub."

The over-the-water option is pegged at $168 million, the on-land option at $152 million. The state has $147 million in hand for the work. Work on the ferry terminal should start in 2008, with the terminal expected to be operational by 2010. A pedestrian bridge is planned to connect the ferry terminal with Sound Transit's planned $13 million commuter rail station, expected to open late this year. Plans for the bridge have already been simplified, cutting the cost in half, saving $6 million to $10 million.

A new road will connect the north end of the Mukilteo Speedway to the new terminal, running behind the Buzz Inn restaurant. Eventual plans include a second slip at the terminal - needed for a third ferry to serve the Mukilteo-Clinton run. About 4 million passengers take the ferry each year.

"I think this route has always needed a third ferry for years," rider Mock said. The plan also includes a 400-stall commuter parking garage.

One way the ferry system can save money is to put off these additions, ferry system spokeswoman Joy Goldenberg said. The second slip isn't scheduled to be added until as late as 2018. This strategy makes Mukilteo City Councilman Tony Tinsley anxious that they may never get built. He's also concerned about the tank farm property.

"That land is far too valuable to turn into a parking lot," Tinsley said.

Unlike some of the other features, the holding lanes are an essential part of the new terminal and the decision on where to build them can't be put off, Goldenberg said.
The federal government is transferring the 20-acre fuel depot property to the Port of Everett, which is building a pier at the eastern end. Mukilteo officials were enamored with the public space that could go with those shops and condos.

"It has to work for us as well, and taking up the entire waterfront (with parking) is not our idea of it working," Mayor Joe Marine said. "We're going to fight."

Haugen, chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, isn't convinced the over-the-water holding lanes are worth the extra $16 million.

"That's great for them," she said of Mukilteo, "but, the fact of the matter is, the state doesn't have the money to do what they think we should do."

Building the holding lanes over water would leave about 11 1/2 acres for development. Building them on land would leave 61/2 acres. The state could need more shoreline acreage to handle storm water or other environmental work, Goldenberg said. How much land would be needed is not certain.

Much more is expected to be known about the Mukilteo plan by spring. Ferry officials are updating cost estimates from 2005. And they're doing an environmental study on the Mukilteo plan.

Looking ahead in Edmonds

To the south, hopes are pinned on Edmonds Crossing.

The state has budgeted $58 million - less than a third of the $171 million projected cost - to build a new ferry dock, terminal and bus and train connections at Point Edwards. The city is asking for $137 million as part of a $10 billion regional transportation ballot measure this November. If the measure is approved, it would allow construction to start in 2011 or 2012 and finish by 2017, said Stephen Clifton, Edmonds community services director.

If it doesn't pass, "we then would probably focus on trying to secure money from the state and federal government to at least construct phase one," Clifton said. Federal funds aren't likely.

"Funding is very tight," said Alex Glass, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, chairwoman of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee. With Edmonds Crossing a few years off, Edmonds officials are upbeat about its prospects. Still, city leaders are eager to get started with redevelopment near the current ferry dock.

"Moving the ferry dock is critical to the redevelopment of Edmonds' downtown waterfront area because the holding lanes presently cut right through the middle of our downtown," Mayor Gary Haakenson said.

Getting out the calculator

As part of its fare increase, the state is considering raising fares even higher during peak hours, to spread out traffic and reduce wait times, McDonald said. The recommendation comes from a consultant's report released this week on ferry financing for the Joint Transportation Committee of the state Senate and House of Representatives.

Current one-way fares for car and driver on the Mukilteo-Clinton route are $6.65 for a car and driver in the off-peak season, October through April, and $8.35 during peak season. For the longer Edmonds-Kingston run, it's $11.25 off-peak, $14.10 peak.Ferry system officials cite recent fare increases as the cause of a decline in ridership each of the past six years. Ferry officials, however, have based many of their plans on an expected long-term increase in ridership.

The ferry system carried 23.8 million riders in 2005, down from 26 million in the 1998-99 fiscal year.In 2005, the Edmonds-Kingston run showed the sharpest dip of the six Puget Sound routes by far, a drop of 137,733 riders to 4.27 million from 4.41 million. The Mukilteo-Clinton route lost 10,567 riders in 2005 from the year before, with its total hovering at slightly more than 4 million. Haugen, who represents Whidbey Island, said she wants to see the Mukilteo improvements. And, she said, the Clinton dock still does not have an overhead loading ramp for pedestrians.

A new, $31.5 million terminal at Keystone is one of the planned improvements. But Haugen said many of her constituents on the island don't want more boats and traffic.

The Keystone project has been pushed back two years, to 2009 at the earliest.

A panel of legislators will look at ferry system needs, Haugen said. She predicted the Legislature this session will approve some changes in the way the ferry system decides on its projects, requiring a more rigorous analysis.

"Ferries really need to have some new direction," Haugen said. "It's 'Come back to reality, guys.' "

Temporary train station on hold
By STEPHEN MERCER, RECORD
Feb 26 2005

Unless Sound Transit staff can justify paying for it, Whidbey Island ferry commuters may need to wait three more years to catch the train in Mukilteo. Agnes Govern, director of Sound Transit’s capital projects, said the Sound Transit finance committee is not convinced Transit should spend an estimated $1.5 to $2.5 million of public money to build a temporary train station at Mukilteo that may only last a couple years.

Despite the skepticism about the future of the temporary station, however, no final decision has been made by Sound Transit’s Board of Directors. Until the board’s decision, Sound Transit staff are researching how long a temporary train station will be needed.

“We’re still in the process of analyzing that for the board,” Govern said.

The news of the temporary station in jeopardy may disappoint some South Whidbey residents. That disappointment probably extends to several residents who applauded when they heard about the station during a meeting about the proposed Mukilteo multi modal ferry terminal in Clinton last December. The station is part of a multi-modal ferry terminal planned for Mukilteo in several years. Train commuters will be able to drive their vehicle on the ferry at Clinton, park it in Mukilteo and ride the train to their job. Walkers may access the train directly from the ferry without touching the ground.

But efforts by state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen could ensure the transit board will have nothing to say about financing. Haugen, the chair of the Senate transportation committee, said she will try to include financing for the station in a transportation package.

“I will try my darnedest to get a temporary station,” she said The package may costs billions and include financing for repair or replacement of the Alaska Way Viaduct. Haugen said she plans to push for funding the station as part of proposed state transportation funding package. To raise revenue, she said the state might increase gas tax slightly, charge more licensing fees, close tax loopholes for businesses and charging vehicles for weight rather than a flat fee.

Eric Beckman, Mukilteo project manager, said some funds, such as a North Corridor Reserve Fund and some possible project savings, could pay for the station. The temporary station, slated for construction in 2006, provides a stop for the Sound Transit train between Seattle and Spokane until construction of a permanent station either in 2007 or 2008 at a budgeted cost of $18.2 million.

Residents supporting the temporary station have an ally in Haugen, a long-time proponent of public transportation, said finances even being a problem surprised her. She said Sound Transit never approached her about a question of money. Whidbey Island residents often tell her they support the temporary train station, she said. In her view, it often provides a faster way for commuters to get to their jobs instead of the bus, and puts more riders on trains which are often not full and pulls drivers off crowded highways.

No arrangement has been reached with the city of Mukilteo for extra parking, the Department of Defense has not transferred ownership of the tank farm where the terminal is planned yet and demolition of a Mukilteo street is needed to bring the train tracks closer to the multimodal terminal, Govern said.

Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Mukilteo may get interim rail stop; Sounder could serve city by early 2006
By Lukas Velush
Everett Herald Writer

MUKILTEO - It's been a year since Sound Transit's commuter rail service started in Snohomish County, and Mukilteo still is without a transit station.

A rider boards the Sounder train Tuesday in Everett. Plans for a Sounder station in Mukilteo have been on hold while the city develops its plan for the waterfront.
But that may change.

Because plans for the Mukilteo waterfront, where a permanent station will eventually be built, are still in flux, Sound Transit now wants to open a temporary station in the city by early 2006.

Estimates are that 100 people are waiting to ride Sound Transit's lone round-trip Sounder train in Mukilteo, half from Whidbey Island and half from Mukilteo, south Everett and the surrounding area.

That many new riders would give Sounder a needed boost. Only about 160 people hop on the train at stations in Everett and Edmonds each morning, a far cry from the 300 people a day the agency had hoped to get by the end of this year.

Finding a permanent location for the transit station may take some time to work through, said Agnes McGovern, Sound Transit's director of capital projects.

With that in mind, Sound Transit staff intends to present its concept for a temporary station to its board of directors in February. It would be built under the Mukilteo Speedway in the city's Old Town district, which is only a short walk from the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry terminal.

If the board approves the plan, construction on the walk-up platform would start in 2005 and would open for service some time in 2006, said Lee Somerstein, a Sound Transit spokesman. He said Sound Transit is still working out how much the platform would cost.

Mukilteo officials worry that building a temporary station will divert money form the permanent station, which is expected to cost $18.2 million when it is finally built.

"We don't embrace the idea," Mukilteo Mayor Don Doran said. "Where is the money coming from?"

Somerstein said the agency is trying to answer that question right now.

"We appreciate the mayor's concern," Somerstein said. "We are trying to find the balance between bringing service to Mukilteo as quickly as possible and providing the best possible facility to serve our commuters there."

The permanent station will eventually be built next to a new ferry terminal, which will be built about 1,000 yards east of the current terminal. Construction on the ferry terminal is to start in 2008 and finish in 2010.

Sound Transit is moving ahead with plans to build a permanent Sounder station in Edmonds and to add parking and a pedestrian bridge at Everett Station in Everett. Sound Transit currently uses Amtrak's platform in Edmonds.

Published: Monday, January 10, 2005
Everett charts course for future
By Jennifer Warnick, Herald Writer

EVERETT - It's the size of a dictionary, and it's not exactly a beach-blanket page-turner.

But Everett's proposed comprehensive plan charts the city's growth goals for the next two decades - to 2025.

Everett's comprehensive plan - first created in 1994 and due to be updated this year - steers the city's planning priorities, including overall ideas for growth, employment, transportation, housing and more.

The Planning Commission and City Council will discuss several key changes as part of the combined annual and 10-year planning updates, said Dave Koenig, the city's manager for long-range planning and community development. So far, the most controversial issue in the proposed document may be Providence Everett Medical Center's plans for growth, Koenig said.

The hospital is planning an expansion of its Colby Campus that its officials say is necessary to accommodate the medical needs of a rapidly growing Snohomish County. The expansion will come at the expense of a block of homes in one of the city's historic areas, the Donovan District. Though the hospital owns 21 of the 22 homes on the block in question, dozens of neighbors who live east of the hospital oppose the growth, saying it would diminish the neighborhood's historic distinction.

According to the plan, the land would temporarily be used for parking, but by 2015 the hospital intends to build a 600-car parking garage and hospital building there.

Another major change would come from Everett Community College, which is planning a 14.2-acre expansion that would move the campus east to meet north Broadway. The land would be used for a new college building, additional parking and a North Everett Transit Center.

The proposed comprehensive plan also outlines growth slated for the former Asarco site in north Everett and the Port of Everett's North Marina project, and the possibility of growth on Everett's riverfront and in the Everett Station area. The city of Everett knows it needs to accommodate population and job growth, Koenig said. The plan outlines how the city should go about doing that.

As they did in 1994, city planners and leaders will discuss how to encourage more housing in downtown Everett, possibly by offering tax credits or changing building height limitations.

"There will be more focus on that this time," Koenig said.

They must also decide whether to zone sections of the city to allow for more multi-family dwellings, how to improve the city's gateways and what impact growth will have on the city's more rural areas. It's hard to visualize how such decisions in 2005 will directly affect what the city map looks like in 2025. But such choices do make a difference, Koenig said. For example, 10 years ago city planners and leaders had discussed changing land near Boeing Field to residential from industrial.

"We looked at it, but the end result was to preserve the land for industrial development," Koenig said.

In the last 10 years, JanSport and Food Services of America settled there, he said, and more industrial growth is expected as Everett begins design and production of the new 7E7 Dreamliner.

Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@ heraldnet.com.

Review the plan

To get a copy of the plan, visit the planning department for a free compact disc. Paper copies are available for $20. The plan is also on Everett’s Web site at www.everettwa.org/comp or can be read at the Everett Public Library, 9512 Evergreen Way.

Comment on plan

The Planning Commission will have a public hearing on proposed changes to the city’s comprehensive plan at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Everett Events Center’s conference center, 2000 Hewitt Ave. Send written comments until Jan. 31 to Dave Koenig at the Snohomish County Planning and Community Development Department, 2930 Wetmore Ave., Suite 8A, Everett, WA 98201-4044.

Above not the ferry to be purchased for $1,000,000 per seat - or should we say, per car.

State to build one ferry
Whidbey News Times
By NATHAN WHALEN
Nov 28 2008, 12:52 PM · UPDATED

State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen said Wednesday morning the ferry system is moving forward with building one Island Home ferry for the Port Townsend-to-Keystone ferry route.

Haugen, who is chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, told members of Island County’s Council of Governments of the decision to move forward with a permanent ferry for the route.

The announcement means the ferry system will build a 64-car ferry for $65 million. That ferry is scheduled to be complete in the spring of 2010.

Haugen said in an interview after the meeting that the Legislature will have to revisit the topic of building additional boats for the ferry system.

Marta Coursey, spokesperson for Washington State Ferries, said a formal bid announcement is expected to take place early next week.

The sole bid, which was made by Todd Shipyards, was higher than the $49.4 million engineer estimate the ferry system had for the ferry. Nichols Brother’s Boat Builders is a subcontractor on the project. The Freeland-based business will built the superstructures for the Island Home ferry.

Haugen said the bid came in so high because the short construction period meant a considerable amount of overtime had to be written into the contract.

The decision comes a week after a presentation made at a Joint Transportation Committee meeting said that the new ferries could be built cheaper out of state.

Haugen said the topic of requiring ferries to be built in Washington will be revisited by the Legislature and she is committed to have them built locally.

“I think it’s better to pay wages than to pay unemployment,” Haugen said. Even though there would be money saved by building ferries out of state, she said there would be extra costs incurred with transportation and oversight.

There is talk of building up to four of the Island Home vessels and to hold off on building the larger 144-car ferries. Haugen said that recommendation came about because it’s easier to maintain and operate the smaller ferries. If approved, those additional ferries could also operate in the San Juan Islands and other routes throughout the system.

Coursey said the timeline and the number of Island Home ferries that will be built won’t be decided until the next legislative session.

Haugen’s announcement comes one year after the Steel Electric ferries were pulled from service due to safety concerns surrounding the hulls of the antiquated vessels.

Passenger ferry service was offered in the months following the decision until the current vessel, the Steilacoom II, started operating on the route. However, that vessel is scheduled to be pulled from service Jan. 4 to undergo maintenance and inspection required by the Coast Guard.

Car ferry finally returns to Keystone
Whidbey News-Times
By Nathan Whalen
Feb 09 2008

After a wait of more than two months, cars are again heading from Keystone to Port Townsend.

The Steilacoom II, the Pierce County-owned vessel leased by Washington State Ferries, wrapped up a week’s worth of training cruises and will start transporting cars across Admiralty Inlet beginning this morning, Feb. 9.

The Steilacoom II, which can hold 50 cars and 300 passengers, returns a service to the run that has been missing since late November when transportation officials decided to pull the old Steel Electrics from service due to corrosion on the vessels’ hulls.

Some who toured the Steilacoom Friday afternoon during a media event hope the vessel will provide a successful stop-gap solution until a different vessel is found or built.

“I think it will meet our short-term needs,” said Bob Clay, Coupeville Town Council member who sits on the Ferry Partnership Committee. He said the group will endorse boats that are a bit larger to serve the Port Townsend Keystone run.

Clay’s sentiments were seconded by Sarah Richards, president of Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce.

She pointed out that the other ferry design being considered has a similar footprint to the Steel Electrics and is based on the boat currently operating on the East Coast.

Richards was realistic regarding how long it will take for new vessels to come to Keystone.

“We’re all going to be suffering for a couple of years until an adequate solution is found,” Richards said.

The ferry system took possession of the Steilacoom II three weeks ago. Washington State Ferries is spending $760,000 to lease the vessel from Pierce County for the next 12 to 14 months. Workers spent the past two weeks making safety improvements. Boat crews have been working since Monday familiarizing themselves with the vessel and how it handles across the inlet, which proves the roughest water in all of Puget Sound.

“We want to ensure the highest standards of safety for our customers,” said Capt. Mark Haupt of Washington State Ferries. He said the vessel’s open design, lack of vertical plating and the hull shape combine to raise concerns about the vessel. On the plus side, the boat is as fast, has more power and is more maneuverable than the Steel Electrics.

There also will be instances where water will wash up on the deck and splash over cars. During such times, people must leave their cars and venture up to the passenger deck.

Washington State Ferries held a tour of the Steilacoom II Friday afternoon for legislators, transportation officials and members of the media. The vessel rocked side to side a bit more than the old Steel Electrics.

Haupt compared the Steilacoom II to the old Rhododendron when it operated on the ferry route. He said that crews will always keep an eye on the weather before deciding to cross the channel.

“We’re going to make as many trips as we possibly can, only we’re going to be safe,” Haupt said.

In addition to the tour, there was also a Port Townsend Keystone Ferry Partnership meeting held Friday morning. Ferry officials presented a report on the status of the Steilacoom II to a skeptical crowd comprised of residents of Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. Many of the Port Townsend residents had seen the bouncy training trips of the car ferry and they weren’t convinced it was up to the job.

“Anyone can see the Steilacoom is not adequate for this run,” said Port Townsend resident Mitch Poling. He favored spending money on repairing the Steel Electrics.

Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond said it would have cost approximately $8 million to repair the Quinault and investigations revealed similar problems on other Steel Electrics, which are over 80-years-old.

“Financing made it so it wasn’t a prudent investment,” she said.

The meeting also touched upon mitigation for both communities during the busy summer months. For Whidbey Island, business leaders would like to see a public awareness campaign advertising the ferry is in service for car passengers; develop a separate Keystone route guide that includes ferry and transit route information; provide money to coordinate Island Transit and ferry schedules; include Keystone on any future ferry routes that link Port Townsend and Seattle; and operate a passenger ferry in addition to the car ferry during the 2008 tourist season.

Giant wave tilts Keystone ferry, damages ship
South Whidbey RECORD
By Michaela Marx Wheatley
Feb 06 2008

It will take more than a deep breath for sisters Celina and Twyla Dill to stay calm when they board the Port Townsend ferry to visit their mother next weekend.

The two students from Freeland, along with their father, Walter Dill, were aboard the Snohomish passenger ferry on Friday when an encounter with a violent wave pushed the vessel under water and gallons of seawater streamed into the cabin.

“I really thought I was going to die,” said Celina, 12. “I was sitting facing my sister and Janice, a friend. I saw their faces. I turned around and all I saw was the dark blue water. Then the ceiling collapsed.

“It was my worst nightmare,” she said.

During the 5:05 p.m. crossing from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island on Feb. 1, the ferry plunged through a wave caused by the wake of a large southbound container ship passing through Admiralty Inlet, Walter Dill said. The boat tilted to a 20-degree angle and water shot into the cabin. Ferry officials, however, said that it was a weather-related incident.

Traci Brewer-Rogstad, deputy director of Washington State Ferries, said the combination of rough seas, westerly winds and the freighter wake caused the incident. She said a rogue wave hit the small ferry.

“Swells from two different directions hit the ferry, add in the freighter — it put a significant portion of the vessel under water,” Brewer-Rogstad said.

However, the ferry did try to get behind the freighter.

“It typically allows for smoother sailing,” she said.

Crossings can be rough on the Keystone-Port Townsend route.

“It’s not necessarily uncommon for this route this time of the year,” Brewer-Rogstad said.

Dill disagrees. He said seas were calm.

“The weather was relatively calm,” he said. “The swells were maybe one or two feet.”

“There is no chance that a rogue wave could have hit us,” Dill said.

Instead of heading toward the Keystone ferry dock, the captain turned south at a high rate of speed and followed the freighter, Dill recalled.

“We were actually getting quite close to the freighter — with it being slightly to the right of the ferry,” he said.

“The bizarre thing was as we were getting closer to the freighter, we turned right,” Dill said. “And we were talking about that. ‘Now why are they doing that?’ This wasn’t making any sense.”

“We were joking, ‘Twyla, tell the captain to turn left,’” Dill said. The outspoken 15-year-old called out to the captain, but the boat turned further right.

“Then it happened,” Dill said. “A huge wave engulfed the front of the ferry and it went nose down.”

Once the ferry tilted, time appeared to stand still. The entire front of the boat was engulfed in dark green water, Dill said.

“Then things started breaking and exploding,” he recalled. “The ceiling at the front of the ferry caved in and water gushed in. People were screaming and running up to the back of the boat. A lot of people were crying,” he said.

“We all thought we were dead.”

Twyla said she didn’t think much at all and simply reacted.

“At the time it didn’t register,” she said. “I saw the water and took off running.”

Passenger Brooklyn Bauer of Forks was on the ferry from the peninsula for the first time.

“I’d never been on the ferry. We were playing cards. My friend said ‘I really like the way the waves feel,’” she said, adding that small waves rocked the boat gently. But then she noticed other passengers getting nervous.

Two minutes later, the wave hit.

“My friend started running. I just sat there in shock,” Bauer recalled.

Once the wave passed, Walter Dill said a young ferry worker came around to ask the passengers if they were OK, but that was the only contact the crew made with the passengers after the scare.

“The captain was nowhere to be seen,” Dill said.

The captain announced that the boat was OK and that the crossing would continue, Dill said.

Dill said he is disappointed that ferry officials have not contacted him even though he sent them an e-mail Saturday informing them of the incident.

“Not a word,” he said.

The ferry sustained minor damage and was taken out of service for the rest of the day.

“Some water went in the carpet. It pushed in ceiling tiles,” Brewer-Rogstad said. “The alarm system went off. That contributed to the scary situation. Obviously people were freaked out.”

Crossings were canceled for that day “due to weather.” The Snohomish was back in service the next morning.

Brewer-Rogstad said the Coast Guard also came out to investigate.

“It was a scary event, but our crews are trained to find the quickest and safest way out,” she said. “While rough seas are not hugely uncommon on this route, it’s a much different experience on the much smaller vessel.”

Puget Sound Express out of Hudson Point Marina has been providing service until the Steilacoom II takes over the route. The Snohomish passenger ferry was put on the route to replace the 80-year-old Steel Electric class car ferry that was taken out of the water for safety reasons in November.

On Monday, Feb. 4, the Steilacoom II begun crew familiarization and training operations on the Port Townsend-Keystone route. The state is leasing the 50-car vessel from Pierce County to serve the route between Whidbey and the peninsula.

Ferry officials are working hard to return vehicle ferry service to the Port Townsend-Keystone route as soon as possible, Brewer-Rogstad said. Crew training will last approximately one week and vehicle ferry service with the Steilacoom II is expected to resume in early February. An exact service date will be announced later.

Celina and Twyla Dill can’t wait for the bigger ferry to go into service. Celina said she isn’t looking forward to next Saturday when she and her sister will take their next trip to see their mom.

“I just want to ride the big ferry,” she said.

Twyla said she’ll be able to handle the trip — after all she has made the crossing many times — unless the weather is rough.

“I am already afraid of small boats, but I never had a reason why,” Twyla said. “Now I have a reason.”

Leased car ferry due in January
Whidbey News-Times
By Jim Larsen
Dec 15 2007

A leased car ferry will begin serving the troubled Keystone to Port Townsend route in January as the state awaits construction of three new boats.

This was a week of mood swings for ferry users and government leaders involved in providing service to Keystone, which lost its car ferry when the four Steel Electric class boats were pulled from service just before Thanksgiving due to safety concerns related to their 80-year-old hulls.

Hopes that one of the Steel Electrics would be back in service next month were dashed last week when workers at Todd Shipyards in Seattle found the deterioration was beyond expectations.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Monday that the old boats, the Quinault, Klickitat, Illahee and Nisqually, which were built in the late 1920s, will be permanently pulled from service.

Leaders then went to work to quell the uproar in Port Townsend and on Whidbey Island, where businesses particularly were alarmed at the idea of losing car ferries indefinitely. By Thursday, a new plan had been agreed to by Gregoire and leaders of the Legislature, including Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen,

D-Camano Island, chair of the powerful Senate Transportation Committee.

Gregoire announced that the state will quickly begin building replacement boats for the Steel Electrics. In the meantime, the state will lease one of the 54-car Anderson Island ferries owned by Pierce County to carry cars between Keystone and Port Townsend, beginning in January.

This could be good news for troubled Freeland boat builder Nichols Brothers, the bankrupt company that built the Anderson Island ferry. Three new boats similar to that design will be ordered. Todd Shipyards will do the design work. The Legislature will have to approve the expenditure, but Haugen and other leaders have already voiced their support.

“This is pretty exciting,” Haugen told the News-Times Thursday, speaking from her cell phone shortly after the governor’s announcement. “We’ll have three new boats in 14 months.” Part of the money had already been set aside for ferry construction, while another part will be taken from the delayed Mukilteo ferry dock relocation project. “That money will be replaced,” Haugen said.

The state has to go to bid for the vessels, but law requires them to be built in Washington. That puts Nichols Brothers in the running, along with Todd and J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding. Those three yards formed a consortium to bid on state ferry contracts, but whether they’ll join together for this bid is not immediately unknown. Haugen said Everett Shipyard has also expressed interest in bidding.

Haugen was impressed by the speedy action between Monday and Thursday. “That’s very fast by state standards, believe me, I’m impressed,” he said. She credited new Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond with motivating the ferry system.

“She told the ferry system ‘this is what you’re going to do’. They’re not used to moving that fast,” Haugen said. The ferry system had been stalled for several years over whether to build a larger terminal in the Keystone, which is one reason the Steel Electrics were not replaced sooner.

To placate the Port Townsend business community, the passenger ferry Snohomish was pulled from the route to Whidbey Island and placed on a holiday schedule from Port Townsend to Seattle. That service started Thursday, with the Snohomish making four daily trips between the Port Townsend ferry terminal and Colman Dock in Seattle. The boat leaves Port Townsend at 6:45 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:45 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. It leaves Seattle at 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. Cost is $6.70 round trip and service will continue to the middle of January.

“We wanted to do everything we can to help the community while there is no vehicle service on the route,” said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, deputy executive director of Washington State Ferries. She described the service as temporary and said it will be reevaluated in early January.

To replace the Snohomish on the cross-channel route from Port Townsend to Keystone, the state contracted with Puget Sound Express, a private company that owns the 49-passenger Olympas.

The Olympas now sails from the Port Hudson Marina, at 227 Jackson in Port Townsend (a half mile north of the ferry terminal), to Keystone Harbor. It’s too small for the ferry slip so it docks at Keystone at the public boat launch used primarily by fishermen.

On its first day of service Thursday, the Olympas bounced across choppy Admiralty Inlet at relatively high speed. Ferry workers managed to rig some generator-powered lights at the boat ramp and waited for the passengers to arrive.

Passenger Janice Ecklund, who lives in Port Towsend but works part-time on Whidbey, was the first to emerge from the Olympas just after 1 p.m. “It’s bumpy but fine,” she said of the ride, as she scurried through the wind toward the waiting Island Transit bus.

About a dozen passengers boarded the Olympas for the ride back to Port Towsend. The Olympas maintains the current passenger-only schedule, weather permitting.

The busy week of ferry changes didn’t please everyone. The Coupeville Chamber of Commerce felt ignored and was envious of the holiday service to Seattle that Port Townsend received.

“Coupeville and Central Whidbey is also a beautiful community with lovely shops, great restaurants, scenery and quaint B&B’s,” states a news release distributed by Sarah Richards, president of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce. “It has suffered a significant loss of business as a result of the suspension of ferry service between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend . . . it appears the plight of Coupeville’s business community is being ignored.” The solution, as Coupeville sees it, is to have the Snohomish stop at Keystone on its way to and from Seattle, or perhaps start a separate service from Keystone directly to Seattle.

The chamber also asked for state money for marketing, and a direct bus link between the Keystone terminal and downtown Coupeville.

By Friday, the chamber had received some of what it wanted, including the bus linking downtown to Keystone. (See accompanying story just below for details).

Shuttle bus now in action
Whidbey News-Times
By Jim Larsen
Dec 15 2007

Coupeville merchants’ wishes were granted Friday when Washington State Ferries agreed to pay for Island Transit to bring Keystone foot ferry passengers directly to downtown Coupeville.

Mayor Nancy Conard said Friday morning she worked all day Thursday with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, Island Transit and state ferry officials to see that the new bus service was implemented. The bus service was slated to begin on Friday during business hours, roughly 10 to 5.

Martha Rose, Island Transit director, said the first “Keystone to Coupeville shuttle” met the 9:30 a.m. boat Friday. The shuttle bus had been decorated the night before in holiday mode, and driver Phyllis Brett stopped in Coupeville to personally spread the word to business owners that the new service was available.

The shuttle will drop foot ferry passengers off on Front Street, and pick them up before returning to Keystone for the next ferry. Passengers will be dropped off and picked up in front of the Island County Historical Society Museum.

Rose said the service will cost a maximum of $1,900 per week, but it will probably be less than that. Washington State Ferries will foot the bill.

Merchants had complained that the lack of an auto ferry at Keystone was hurting business.

Conard said the ferry system also agreed to advertise how Seattle area residents can reach Coupeville with the auto ferry gone until January. Shoppers from the big city can take the temporary Seattle to Port Towsend foot ferry named the Snohomish, then hop on the Olympas to cross Admiralty Inlet to Keystone, and from there ride the bus to Coupeville.

“You can get from Seattle to Coupeville without a car,” will be the essence of the advertising message, Conard said.

Conard also expressed satisfaction with the resolution of Keystone ferry issues announced this week. Three new auto ferries will be built as quickly as possible for the route; meanwhile, an auto ferry will be leased and start service in January.

“The most important thing is to get the car service back,” Conard said. “The rest is just mitigation.”

The roughriders: Foot ferry hits turbulence
Whidbey News-Times
By Nathan Whalen
Dec 05 2007

When high winds blow through Admiralty Inlet, one thing that won’t be on the water is the Snohomish, the passenger-only ferry that’s been sailing out of Keystone Harbor since the antiquated vehicle ferries were pulled due to safety concerns.

The Snohomish, which is a relatively light foot ferry with an aluminum hull, has difficulty navigating the route when it’s windy and waves are churning. The ride is rough enough that officials find it’s better to simply cancel sailings until conditions improve.

The Keystone to Port Townsend route across Admiralty Inlet is notorious for its rough water and unpredictable weather and has caused problems for even the most seaworthy vessels in the past.

On Sunday, the route was closed for approximately two hours in the afternoon and later, the two final departures were canceled because of the rough conditions. Then, on Monday, service was suspended for several hours due to continuing foul weather.

It’s ultimately the captain’s decision on whether to cancel a sailing due to conditions, said Traci Brewer-Rogstad, deputy director for Washington State Ferries. A variety of factors including tides, current, wind and visibility can contribute to a captain’s decision to suspend service.

She said the Port Townsend/Keystone route is subject to the roughest weather of all the ferry routes in the system.

Liz Rosbach, special education teacher at Coupeville High School, knows first-hand how treacherous the conditions can be on the Snohomish.

As a commuter, she travels on the ferry regularly and enjoys the 17-minute trip when the water is relatively calm. However, when she rode the ferry Nov. 26, the trip took 47-minutes and made the commuters anxious as the boat pitched left and right and up and down at the same time.

“There were a lot of white knuckles and a lot of closed eyes,” Rosbach said of the experience. She understands the need to close the ferry route during high winds and she has to pay closer attention to the weather when she is planning her commute.

Washington State Ferries instituted passenger-only service in late November to provide some kind of ferry service from Central Whidbey Island.

Susan Harris-Huether, spokesperson for Washington State Ferries, said between 130 and 150 passengers a day are riding the Snohomish. To help with the commute, ferry officials altered the ferry schedule so that arrivals correspond with local transit systems.

Harris-Huether said the ferry system is working on a contingency plan should commuters become stranded at the end of the day when the ferry route closes down due to inclement weather or other problems.

Should that happen, commuters will hop into vans and be driven down to Edmonds, walk on to the ferry, and get into vans in Kingston and be driven up to Port Townsend. The detour would take several hours and require two ferry crossings.

She said that people won’t be left stranded overnight at the ferry terminal.

Harris-Huether doesn’t know on Monday when that service will become available as officials are still working on details such as training and liability issues.

Washington State Ferries pulled the Steel Electric ferries from service due to hull pitting found in the Quinault and fears that similar problems could extend to the three remaining vessels. The four 80-year-old vessels are the only car ferries in the system capable of navigating in and out of narrow Keystone Harbor.

Officials don’t expect a Steel Electric to return to the Keystone to Port Townsend route until the middle of February.

In the meantime, commuters are keeping a wary eye out for the weather as they make their travel plans.

Jerry Mingo, who works for the Island County, has been walking onto the ferry and then bicycling to and from work for years.

Even before the removal of the Steel Electrics, he would expect to stay in a hotel room one or two times a year should he get stuck on Whidbey Island and unable to get to his home in Port Townsend. He often brings work home with him at the end of the day just in case he has time to kill in a hotel room.

As for Rosbach, she has a car on Whidbey Island that she uses to get from the ferry terminal to school. She is planning to stay with friends when the weather turns bad so she doesn’t miss any days of work.

She said she enjoys the speedy, 17-minute ferry trip the Snohomish offers when it’s in operation. In fact, she would like to see some kind of passenger ferry service running permanently on the route that could alternate with vehicle ferries.