We’re at Seacrest, where the King County Water Taxi’s West Seattle celebration already has begun, even though it technically wasn’t set to start till noon. King County Councilmember Jan Drago arrived on the Water Taxi about 10 minutes ago with the King County Ferry District’s new executive director Hank Myers; a program with speeches and performances is set to begin in about half an hour; and free rides and snacks are already being enjoyed (big crowd waiting to get on the run that leaves in a few minutes).
White chocolate mousse cake free while it lasts, along with coffee, and performances coming up including rope-jumpers and singers from Lafayette Elementary! ADDED 12:33 PM: King County Executive Dow Constantine, longtime Water Taxi champion, is on hand too – seen here in our cameraphone pic with his team’s transportation expert Chris Arkills:
ADDED 10 PM: Here’s the exuberant start to Constantine’s speech at the event:
Since the end of the last Water Taxi season, the county-run foot ferries briefly came under political attack, when supporters of Constantine’s opponent in the KC Executive race decried the service as “ferries going nowhere.” Then budget challenges raised some questions about its future, but county leaders ultimately decided to keep the West Seattle and Vashon services running, while deferring consideration of other potential routes. What remains in question now is whether the money will be found to make it the year-round service that it could be now that its West Seattle dock has been upgraded, with the $3 million project completed in the offseason; that has yet to be worked out, but we’ll be following the process. Meantime, you can find Water Taxi info including schedule and fares by going here.
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