Come to the public ferry meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, in the Kingston Community Center.
There are lots of important things to hear about and comment on: the new ferry schedule, this year’s ferry fare proposals, what’s going to be done about on-time ferry performance, downtown congestion and more.
And, if that’s not enough, there will be free cookies.
Running with the bulls
Last month while the ferry was offloading in Kingston, a driver who had fallen asleep mistakenly hit the gas — or maybe the brake if it was a Toyota. The car leapt forward, sideswiping Kingston Lumber’s “Cruiser,” and knocking over a ferry crewmember before impaling itself on the ferry’s side.
Since ferry workers can’t let sleeping drivers lie, expect that they may wait until the coast is clear before waking us up.
As summer approaches we need to drive more defensively. The boats are crowded with riders who may not be accustomed to our bumper-to-bumper and side-by-side driving on and off of the ferry. They’re also more likely to hop out of the car while the adjacent lane is still loading.
Rescue boats
Careful readers have pointed out that, contrary to April’s cartoon, our ferries do a lot of rescue work.
On March 27, Capt. Tullis and the crew of the Spokane saved the life if a diver at the Edmonds underwater park.
The week before, a ferry I was on rescued a homeless person who fell into the water at the foot of Yesler Way. Wahington State Ferries makes 30 to 40 rescues annually, usually about five of them are at the dive park in Edmonds. With the City of Edmonds cutting back its rescue services, we’re lucky to have the ferry rescue crews.
Weekly, each crew, and there are two to three crews per ferry, practices putting their rescue boat into the water. You’ve probably seen this activity in Appletree Cove when the ferry is on its way to the dock.
Trafficking in Kingston
In April we met with State Ferries, the Department of Transportation, Kitsap Public Works, and the State Patrol regarding Kingston’s State Route 104 ferry traffic problems. Here’s the background:
In the ’90s, the state Department of Transportation and Kingston developed a plan for our ferry traffic. Finalized and “shovel ready” in 1998, the design literally went up in smoke soon afterward in a fire. After the plan stagnated for a few more years, a group of community, Transportation and Public Works representatives formed to resurrect the State Route 104 phoenix.
The SR-104 plan had two parts. The first part is to bypass downtown by rerouting all ferry traffic to the northeast side of the Kingston Community Center. The second part was to put in a holding area out at Lindvog Road.
As part two would cost lots of money it was dropped in favor of either a reservations system or an automated tally system. After the Legislature put off Kingston’s reservations until 2016 or beyond, the SR 104 traffic group met to review last summer’s congestion data and to decide what to do next.
The data showed that Kingston residents were not exaggerating the congestion problem. We have big backups on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
To get the automated tally system and traffic bypasses back on life support, State Ferries, Transportation and Kitsap County will ask for study money during the 2011 legislative session.
This year we may see the traffic signs getting repaired — maybe even the electronic one out at RiteAid.
So, that’s all ho-hum news, but Kingston’s Laurie Larson has gotten the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, which sets county transportation priorities, to request funding for a sidewalk on SR 104 along Kole Kola Park …Woo hoo!
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