KEYSTONE — As Washington State Ferries prepares to cancel service between Seattle and Port Townsend on Sunday, commuters and business owners continue to protest.
At least 2,000 people have signed a petition urging lawmakers to keep the route running. They’ve held meetings and contacted legislators. They’ve posted Web blogs and videos on You Tube trying to illustrate the need for the service, which began Dec. 13 to bring holiday shoppers to Port Townsend.
A group of young people posted a music video about the situation titled “Passenger Ferry” on Seattle2PT.com, a new Web site dedicated to the issue. As they sway and wave their arms in the air, they sing, “Seems like only yesterday Seattle was so far away, but since we kissed the Klickitat goodbye. Now we have a little boat that barely seems to keep afloat … Passenger ferry. Passenger ferry.”
Despite the efforts, the run between Port Townsend and Seattle will be canceled Sunday. There currently are no plans to reinstate it, according to Marta Coursey, communications director for the ferry system.
However, the return of car-ferry service between Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula is expected to help businesses soon. The much-anticipated return was originally slated for early January, but has been pushed back until later this month, Coursey said.
Ferry officials are still negotiating with Pierce County to rent that county’s newest ferry, the Steilacoom II. Washington State Ferries expects to have the ferry in mid-January for a series of tests and trial runs between Port Townsend and Keystone. The ferry is tentatively expected to start carrying passengers by Feb. 1, Coursey said.
The 80-year-old Steel Electric-class ferries that shuttled passengers and cars between Port Townsend and Keystone for years were pulled from service on Nov. 20. State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond ordered the ferries tied up, citing concerns over their hulls, which in places still contained corroding 1927-vintage steel plates.
The Steel Electrics were temporarily replaced with a passenger-only ferry, which has led to declines in businesses for some merchants on the Olympic Peninsula and on Whidbey Island. At least one restaurant laid off employees due to the drop in customers.
“This is like a bridge falling down and it needs to be considered in those terms,” said Sarah Richards, president of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just a toy shopping center link. This is a major commercial artery that has been severed and businesses all up and down the area are suffering.”
The state plans to build three new ferries, modeled after the Steilacoom II, to replace the Steel Electrics. In the interim, leaders on Whidbey Island and in Port Townsend want the government to consider new ferry routes or grants to help businesses stay afloat.
“The community has survived a catastrophe, but now we need to survive the recovery,” said Tim Caldwell, general manager of the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce. “In order to do that, we need an auto ferry that’s going to be able to run effectively — and no one’s really sure yet if the Pierce County boat can do that.”
He said he’d like the state to consider running — or helping local entities run — a car-ferry between Kingston and Edmonds or a passenger-only ferry to Seattle.
Coursey said ferry officials will listen to the suggestions, but currently have no money to start new ferry routes.
The passenger-only ferry to Seattle costs the ferry system about $10,000 a day, she said. At its peak on Dec. 29, 919 passengers rode the ferry, which costs $6.70 round trip. On Wednesday, 679 people used the service.
“We simply can’t justify it financially,” Coursey said. “The communities always knew it was designed as an interim solution only.”
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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