Today is the busiest day for ferry travel.
If you want to get to Whidbey Island by the Fourth of July, consider driving around.
The wait time for vehicles heading to the island on the Mukilteo-Clinton route was already three hours at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Washington State Ferries expects 700,000 riders over the holiday week, so expect long wait times to linger.
“Keep your cool, hydrate and be kind,” the agency’s post on X said.
The Mukilteo-Clinton route has two boats, the 90-car Sealth and 144-car Suquamish, to handle vehicle traffic to the holiday hotspot. Even when two large vessels serve the route, wait times are long on summer holidays. On Tuesday, service went to one boat at 7 p.m. due to crew shortages.
On Wednesday afternoon, the wait at the Edmonds terminal to Kingston was two hours. That route has two big boats, the 144-car Kaleetan and the 202-car Puyallup, to haul riders.
On Thursday, mid-day travelers on the Edmonds-Kingston route will get to see a parade, whether they want to or not.
Drivers on the 11:55 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. departures from Edmonds will be delayed for up to an hour in Kingston due to the city’s Fourth of July parade. Vehicles will be unloaded from the vessels and parked on the dock until the end of the parade.
Access to the terminal will be closed during the parade for travelers from Kingston.
Riders are encouraged to consider alternate routes or sailing at different times, the agency said.
Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.
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