Port Townsend to Seattle ferry plan advances

PORT TOWNSEND — Proposed passenger ferry service between Seattle and Port Townsend is one step closer to becoming real.

Sen. Patty Murray’s office says a Senate subcommittee has approved $1 million for the high-speed service. Murray spokesman Evan Miller tells the Peninsula Daily News that the money’s not guaranteed.

But he notes that the appropriation now goes to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Committee — which Murray chairs — and then to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is the senior member.

Three other projects on the Olympic Peninsula also received preliminary approval.

They are Clallam Transit maintenance facility improvements, Elwha Valley road improvements and Jefferson Transit vehicle replacement.