Mukilteo: Ferry traffic may improve by summer
Published 12:06 am Sunday, January 11, 2009
MUKILTEO — Some relief to paralyzing ferry traffic in the city’s Old Town could arrive as soon as summer.
The Buzz Beach Bar &Grill, one of a handful of waterfront watering holes and restaurants frequented by ferry commuters, was demolished to create another 100 spaces for Washington State Ferries.
“It ends up doubling the capacity they have,” said Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine, who helped come up with a temporary solution to ease backups that can stretch as far as two miles up the Mukilteo Speedway.
The Mukilteo-Clinton run is one of the busiest with regular drive-on passengers.
The route handled more than four million riders in 2006; that number is projected to jump by 48 percent to nearly 6 million by 2030.
To accommodate that growth, the state eventually hopes to build a new ferry terminal east of the current location — with more parking. However, construction of the new ferry terminal was delayed indefinitely last year by rising costs and other factors.
Washington State Ferries has signed a four-year lease with the owner of the land next to the ferry terminal.
The lease price was not available from the state Friday. Neither was a cost estimate for building the ferry lanes.
The owner of the Buzz Beach Bar &Grill — part of the Everett-based Buzz Inn chain — has not returned several calls from the newspaper made since March.
Joy Goldenberg, a spokeswoman with the Ferry system, said the state will pay for construction of the lanes. The Buzz Inn will manage the work.
A new ferry terminal project, known as Mukilteo Landing, is considered a crucial piece of the city’s plan to revitalize its Old Town.
The state Department of Transportation intended to start work on the new terminal last year and finish in 2010. Now, because of Washington’s massive budget shortfall, that work won’t likely begin in earnest before the next decade.
Still, Marine said he is hopeful the state will follow through with plans to invest in a new terminal.
A new draft long-range plan for the ferry system presents two options going into the future — and both the best- and worst-case scenarios include a new ferry terminal for Mukilteo.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
