City offered options on Terminal plans

By Pat Ratliff

The Beacon   

The Washington State Ferries (WSF) on Monday sent to the Mukilteo City Council a mixture of high-ranking officials and on-the-ground “ferry experts” to present two option concepts for a new terminal.

John White, director of Terminal Engineering, said WSF decided to pursue a different (read “cheaper”) line of action for a new terminal.

“What got us into it is the rising cost of building the kind of terminal we had been planning,” White said.

“In light of financial difficulties in the ferry system, that kind of a terminal wasn’t a sustainable way to go.”

White presented a slideshow of three different images, an East Terminal, a West terminal, and an expanded holding area.

He stressed that the ideas presented were just concepts, and what the WSF wanted was a discussion of concepts.

“Before, we were looking at the year 2030 and were looking at the ultimate for ferry traffic,” White said. “None of these versions presented tonight will get you everything you want.”

Under current financial conditions, some of what was desired is not likely to happen.

For example, there had been talk of a third ferry for the Mukilteo/Clinton run. 

A second slip would be needed if there were three ferries running, and would be handy in case of problems with one of the slips, but a third ferry is at least eight to 10 years out.

Both options are in the $110 million range, but White admitted there is a “bit of breathing room” in the budget.

Each site has space for 1 1/2 ferry loads of cars in the holding area, which could largely reduce or eliminate the regular backup of cars along the Speedway.

“Each of these options can be expanded,” said Susan Fletcher, head of the Mukilteo Terminal. “We just need to see how the budget plays out.”

Plans for an over-the-water holding area seem to be, well, dead in the water.

By eliminating that option, White said, “This reduces construction prices by about $80-$100 million.”

WSF is including removal of the government pier in their budget for building the new terminal. Removal of that pier would cost about $9 million, he said.

While White admits everything that was planned earlier is probably not possible, there are a number of good things that can come from the new proposals.

“These options separate ferry traffic from the waterfront and give cohesiveness to the ferries with Sounder traffic,” he said.

White also spoke of a proposal to demolish the Buzz Inn and use it for temporary ferry traffic parking until a new terminal is built.

“There is across-the-board support for this option in the Legislature,” White said. “It would more than double the parking for traffic at the present terminal, and provide meaningful reductions of traffic backup on the Mukilteo Speedway.”

The owners of the Buzz Inn property would lease the property temporarily to WSF for parking, then redevelop the site after a new terminal is built.

The council voted to support the Buzz Inn proposal, as well as to direct the mayor and staff to negotiate with WSF on concepts of terminal development.