Date:
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Contact:
Hadley Greene, Customer and Community Relations, (206) 515-3913
(SEATTLE) Washington State Ferries will hold a public open house on Wednesday, November 1 at the Mullis Senior Center (589 Nash Street) in Friday Harbor from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to gather input on master plan recommendations for the area around the Friday Harbor Ferry Terminal. Recommendations in the Draft Friday Harbor Master Plan were shaped in part by public comments received over the past year. Washington State Ferries wants to hear what people think about proposed improvements such as curb bulbs, overhead loading, two-lane ferry off-loading and other recommendations that will help ease congestion around the ferry terminal.
The Friday Harbor Master Plan outlines recommended improvements to help relieve congestion around the ferry terminal. The master plan includes a series of short-term, intermediate and long-term improvements that would help reduce the time it takes the ferry to load and unload in Friday Harbor. Reducing ferry "dwell time" could allow Washington State Ferries to add additional service in the future.
An Intermodal Transportation Committee has been meeting since October 2005 to advise Washington State Ferries on development of the master plan. The committee includes representatives from the Town of Friday Harbor, San Juan County and the Port of Friday Harbor. Committee members and WSF staff will be available at the public meeting to answer questions.
In spring 2005 the Washington State Legislature appropriated $250,000 for Washington State Ferries to study traffic improvements around the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor. This money is being be used for traffic analysis and development of master plan options. Additional funding sources will be needed to implement improvements identified during this planning process. At this point, no funding has been identified for any of the recommendations included in the Draft Friday Harbor Master Plan.
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