MUKILTEO — Plans to build a new ferry terminal are sailing again after more than a year stuck in dry dock.
The state expects to have some alternate terminal plans to show the public in the fall, said Joy Goldenberg, a spokeswoman for the ferry system. The new timeline has construction starting in 2017.
Previous plans were stuck in a drawer two years ago after the state shifted funding to focus on replacing rusty, old boats. State lawmakers ordered officials to build new ferries and study ways to improve the system’s efficiency rather than focus on new terminals.
That’s being done, with one new ferry being completed at a shipyard on the Everett waterfront, and another now under construction. Both ferries are being built for the Port Townsend-Keystone run. Two more boats for other parts of the system are planned. The ferry system also is working on a reservation system and has approved a 30-year plan.
The Mukilteo-Clinton route is the third busiest in the system, after Seattle-Bremerton and Edmonds-Kingston. Boats on the route last year carried nearly 20 percent of the 22.7 million riders systemwide, according to ferry system figures.
The Legislature in 2009 approved $63.3 million during the next decade for planning and possible construction of a new terminal in Mukilteo.
Since then, officials from several agencies have been talking with Indian tribes to make sure the plans don’t damage the environment or interfere with archaeological sites, said state Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds.
“The real new work this year has been reaching out to the tribes,” he said.
The original plans involved building a new terminal on the former Air Force tank farm east of the current dock. The city of Mukilteo wanted the holding lanes built out over the water to reduce congestion and allow room for more waterfront development. Costs for that style of terminal ballooned to as much as $300 million.
Mukilteo officials now realize that that plan is dead in the water.
“We just want the darn thing moved from where it’s at,” Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine said. “If it could be over the water that would be great, but I don’t think that’s going to go anywhere.”
City and state officials still agree, however, that traffic congestion and safety issues at the existing dock would be best addressed by moving the terminal to the tank farm and building a new road to the site. Having the terminal there also would allow passengers to walk between the ferry terminal and the Mukilteo Sounder commuter train platform.
The least expensive of the previous plans, pegged at $110 million two years ago, is being dusted off and trimmed down, Liias said.
It’s possible the state could design and build a basic dock and terminal for close to the money already set aside by the Legislature, he said. This would include holding lanes slightly larger than those at the current dock and a bare-bones terminal building.
“We hopefully will receive some federal funding at some point for this project,” Liias said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com.
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