Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, December 14, 2007

Governor's decisiveness should save ferry run

 Gov. Chris Gregoire's decisive action Thursday regarding the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run was refreshing. We hope she, Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and legislative leaders will take similar steps to pin down how this preventable crisis unfolded, with the goal of reforming a ferry system that clearly needs it.

Gregoire and Hammond inherited a nightmare regarding the system's 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries, vessels that had been running under waivers from modern safety rules for years. Hammond made a gutsy and necessary call to pull the ferries from service late last month after close inspection showed they had deteriorated beyond any semblance of seaworthiness. Gregoire on Thursday addressed the massive inconvenience and economic harm that followed, announcing immediate and long-term plans to save the run between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.

Gregoire said the state will lease a replacement ferry from Pierce County, resuming auto service to the route in January. She proposed moving $100 million from other ferry projects to build three new ferries to serve the run, vessels small and nimble enough to navigate Whidbey's shallow, narrow Keystone Harbor. Bids would be taken early next year.

And, in a welcome effort to salvage some of the Christmas shopping season for Port Townsend merchants, temporary passenger-only service from Seattle will start today.

The downside: Some $36 million of the cost for new ferries would come from money earmarked for a new Mukilteo terminal, a project that's already been delayed. But perhaps a silver lining could emerge there, too. Why not explore moving the ferry landing to Everett, opening potentially grand new development opportunities on Mukilteo's downtown waterfront and easing the town's daily traffic headaches? We don't know how logistically, politically or financially feasible such an idea is, but it seems worth discussing.

For now, we applaud the swiftness and soundness of the governor's initial actions. There's more to be done, though, to get to the bottom of why the safety of ferry passengers was allowed to be so compromised. Lessons clearly must be learned, and corrective action taken. Future governors should never be handed such a mess to clean up.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA