Ferry chat sails into Kingston

Published 1:00 pm Saturday, September 23, 2006

KINGSTON — Washington State Ferries officials answered questions floated by the public Wednesday at the Kingston Ferry Advisory Committee meeting.

Many of the issues, such as dock leasing and traffic in Kingston, had previously been discussed, and residents are hoping to see solutions sailing forward.

The agenda was based on concerns that had been raised during a spring meeting with WSF officials, said FAC President Walt Elliot.

“There were about a dozen thoughtful, passionate Kingstonians there,” he said of the meeting, adding that there were a handful of fantastic WSF officials on-hand to answer questions and help ease concerns. “We had a really good group.”

Much of the discussion covered known public concerns, including the lease agreement between WSF and the Port of Kingston for the ferry dock.

“That should be a major issue in the long-range plan,” FAC member Karl Compton said of the lease agreement. “It’s a major issue in Kingston right now.”

WSF Planning Director Ray Deardorf, who gave a brief overview of the long- range plan, agreed that the lease is an important issue and is being examined in relation to the plan.

“We’re trying to look at the overall ferry operation,” said 23rd state Rep. Bev Woods (R-Kingston), adding that revenue projections are being examined to see how likely it will be for WSF to buy the dock. “We’re looking at a lot of statistics right now that should help us in the future.”

“Bev’s on all the key committees that influence ferries,” Elliot said, noting that she was an excellent bridge between the WSF officials and the public at the meeting. “My impression is that her presence helped influence the WSF representatives to move towards action.”

Another concern raised by Elliot dealt with missed connections between the Sounder train and the Edmonds ferries.

“This issue deals a lot with people puffing up the ramp with 30 seconds to get on the boat,” Elliot said. “I don’t understand why we can’t give a better connection time.”

“We have tried different ideas in trying to make that connection,” said WSF Planning Director Dave Remagen, adding that if the trains are running late, there’s little the ferries can do.

Elliot countered saying that the ferries could wait a little longer and make up the time on the water.

“We just can’t do that because it causes our fuel intake to skyrocket,” Remagen said. “If we wait for the last 10 people on the ramp, then there’s three more we after them we have to wait for, before you know it, we’re 15 minutes late. Where do you draw the line on that?”

The issue remained unresolved, but Elliot made it clear that he and the FAC will not let it simply fade away.

The public also voiced concerns about the traffic going through Kingston on busy ferry days, and asked how to help alleviate the backup caused several times a day by ferries loading and unloading downtown.

“We had the guys from (Washington State Department of Transportation) and from the Washington State Patrol at the meeting,” Elliot said, adding that many people gave ideas on how to help traffic move through Kingston more smoothly, which state officials appreciated.

“DOT talked about the tally system, and several people gave ideas on how to improve that,” Elliot said. “A number of issues were raised by people who feel that the (Washington) State Patrol could be more cognizant. (WSP) said they could improve on how they run traffic through Kingston.”

Overall, Elliot said he feels that WSF has many improvements to make, but he also feels that WSF is slowly improving.