(WSF recording of Wednesday night Community Advisory Group meeting)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

As Washington State Ferries gets close to settling on a “preferred alternative” for its Fauntleroy dock replacement, it told the project’s Community Advisory Group members Wednesday night that it’s focusing on what could be a hybrid of two of the options it’s been examining for more than a year.

They are B and B-3, which would be longer than the existing dock and would hold at least a full ferryload. of vehicles (124 for the Issaquah-class ferries that currently serve the route). Here’s how those two were described when the nine possible alternatives were unveiled in October of last year:

Last night’s online meeting wasn’t meant to be final word of which alternative WSF is pursuing, but rather a chance to review the criteria used in the evaluation, and to answer questions about the review. (Here’s the full slide deck.)

WSF’s David Sowers opened with an acknowledgment that “this process has taken longer than we anticipated.” But: “We’re getting toward the end” of that process. The ~$100 million dock/terminal is currently expected to be built between 2027 and 2031, and construction could last that entire four-year window.

What they’re wrapping up now is the “Level 3 screening process.” WSF’s Marsha Tolon recapped that they evaluated the alternatives on 29 “performance factors.” You can see the full details of those factors, and how alternatives stacked up, in this draft document circulated to advisory-group members. Those factors ranged from what you’d expect – load times, for example – to environmental factors such as how much an alternative might encroach on Cove Park (north of the dock) or how it might affect eelgrass restoration; here are some key criteria as listed in the meeting slide deck:

Here are WSF’s choice of highlights for why they favor the possible “hybrid” – note that the darker the box, the better that alternative ranked:

Feedback from advisory-group members included a question from Fauntleroy’s Judy Pickens about whether WSF really expected to be able to expand the terminal’s overwater coverage so much. Tolon suggested that the support of the Technical Advisory Group will help with that. Another group member urged WSF to plan for a future in which larger boats might be serving the route, not just the 124-car vessels handling it now. (WSF acknowledged that some years down the road, they’ll have to build a class of ferries replacing the Issaquah-class, and that could mean a different capacity. “We will deliver the Legislature our best thoughts” when the time comes, said John Vezina.) What about the pump station on the Cove Park side of the dock – will WSF have to maintain road access to that? Sowers said they’re assuming so.

There was no vote – this is an advisory group, not a decisionmaking group – so WSF’s focus on the footprint of B and B-3 ultimately was an FYI, not a “do you agree?”

WHAT’S NEXT: WSF says it’ll plan a round of community engagement – at least an “open house,” suggested Sowers – before making a final decision on the preferred alternative. Once that decision is in, a new round of environmental review will kick off. And before it builds the new dock, WSF will be working with SDOT on changes for the Fauntleroy Way intersection at the dock’s exit/entrance; that plan is not finalized yet but construction is expected to start next year. (An advisory group asked for a rendering of what’s in the works; a rep for the engineering firm working on that part of the project said they’re working on one.)

(The size/shape alternatives under consideration for Fauntleroy terminal/dock replacement)

As Washington State Ferries moves closer to deciding on a “preferred alternative” for replacing the Fauntleroy ferry dock, two of the project’s advisory groups are meeting online this week, and all are welcome to watch and listen. First, on Tuesday (December 10), the Technical Advisory Group meets 10 am-11:30 am; then on Wednesday (December 11), the Community Advisory Group meets 6-8 pm. (The project page has information on who comprises the two groups.) You can register to get the meeting links by going here. Construction of the new dock, currently budgeted at almost $100 million, is not expected to start before 2027; the intersection at the dock’s entrance/exit, however, is scheduled for changes including a signal, with work starting in fall of next year. Our report on the Community Advisory Group’s most-recent meeting a month and a half ago is here.

(The size/shape alternatives under consideration for Fauntleroy terminal/dock replacement)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Building the new Fauntleroy ferry dock/terminal could take up to four years.

That’s part of what the project’s Community Advisory Group learned during an online meeting Wednesday night.

The time frame depends on what alternative is chosen for the new dock – Washington State Ferries is on the verge of deciding on an alternative to carry forward into environmental review. “We’re getting to the end of the PEL (planning and environmental linkages) study process.”

WSF’s David Sowers started the meeting by revisiting the Good to Go! tolling/advance-ticketing study, a focus of the CAG’s previous meeting last month.

Group member Judy Pickens asked about costs. Sowers said it’s in the report – they had options from $5 million to $20 million for using Good To Go! He said it’s effective in its full implementation but only saving a few minutes in “dwell time. … That for us was not enough to .. (pursue) significant policy changes” that it would take, “not something we could implement any time soon.” He added that the cost of operating and maintaining the system is sizable too – “some capital upfront costs … if money were no constraint, it might be a lot more doable, but the benefit we saw” (wasn’t enough to suggest they pursue the costly option).”

WSF’s Hadley Rodero reminded everyone that they had decided to carry a partial implementation of Good To Go! into the level 3 screening, as well as Wave To Go advanced ticketing with a “similar-sized” dock. (All the dock sizes being screened are bigger than the current one.) So all vehicles will continue to go through toll booths.

Another group member, Mardi Clements, said she was glad that there’d be some time saved, so everyone would benefit.

Next, Sowers focused on the factors that would have to be considered for construction. WSF will continue some level of service during construction – the dock won’t be completely out of commission. Sowers said they’d been asked by a King County Water Taxi rep if passenger-only service would be an option. Site constraints include “a narrow piece of land on which to operate.” Permitting requirements will include addressing noise, dealing with staging areas. “We know construction is disruptive – it’s impactful, sometimes stressful, but will lead us to a product we’ll all be happy with.”

Construction criteria are spelled out here:

Regarding maintaining some level of service, they may consider building a temporary slip as well as looking at ways to move passengers. Sowers said they’d also recently hired consultants to look at the Triangle Route schedule – reviewing it for the current time as well as construction.

He handed off to Ed Thomas, project engineering lead, who got further into construction details. He said they’re still trying to identify construction staging and office areas.

In the first stage, they’d use the existing dock. Then for 15-18 months, traffic would move to the temporary slip. Phase 2B, another move, then Phase 3, the temporary dock/slip would be removed and the new dock would move.

They chose the A alternatives for the graphics but that does not mean other options have been ruled out, Thomas clarified in response to a question. In response to another one, WSF acknowledged that some of the offshore components will be replaced as part of the project.

Group member Anne Higuera said she’s “excited to see this” and asked questions – starting with, have they consulted any contractors yet? Sowers said no, but there are a lot of people on staff with experience enough to know these plans are promising. Would materials come in and go out through West Seattle or be barged in? Both, said Sowers – a fair amount of suppliers are on the Duwamish River, for example. It’s a large-enough project that “most of the work is going to be done from the water,” he said. Higuera wondered if the temporary dock should perhaps be built elsewhere on the West Seattle peninsula. No, said Sowers – “building it in a completely different location” would require another level of permitting, among other things. He said they acknowledge building the temporary dock and demolishing it will be costly, but there’s no way around it.

Is there an estimated start date? Sowers was asked. No – could be as early as 2027-2028, “regardless of the option” chosen, he said. And yes, he replied to a question, they have to work around fish windows (times when in-water construction is not permitted because of fish-related considerations).

How much holding will there be on the temporary dock? “Less than 84 cars, so there will be additional traffic that queues on Fauntleroy Way, Sowers said. Thomas said it could range from 18 to 40 vehicles on the dock, depending on how the loading/offloading phase works during construction. So it’s a small temporary structure, Clements said. Yes, Thomas confirmed, it would be pretty much the same between all the alternatives.

The estimated durations are based on all the permit requirements and noise/work hours rules, Thomas said. Pickens asked, so anything affecting the creek flow would be limited to three months of the year? Yes, said Thomas.

Group member Justin Hirsch said he’s glad to see the temporary slip idea – the concept of rerouting downtown just wouldn’t work. But he’s worried that potentially three years of traffic backups on Fauntleroy is daunting, so traffic would need active management. “Sometimes Fauntleroy Way SW looks like a Mad Max movie and it’s going to look even more like that.”

WSF’s Hadley Rodero stressed that planning for schedules and traffic flow will be vital, including how they communicate it to the community.

Thomas said there’ll be a 15-foot-wide clear zone on both sides of the dock, north and south.

For construction duration – depending on the alternative chosen, anywhere from 33 to 48 months. And that’s just the “physical construction activities,” Thomas said.

Sowers then picked up the topic of “construction-delivery method.” They intend to use “design-build” – a single contractor who will design and build the project – as opposed to design-bid-build. “This is more of a ‘best value’ approach to project delivery,” Sowers said, adding that it helps the state manage risk, via one contractor being accountable for so much of it. He said it also means the project can be built faster – maybe they’ll come up with a better way to phase it. (And yes, they’ll have incentives for finishing earlier.) “I want to dispel any myths that the design-builder is going to do whatever they want” – they still have to live up to terms of the contract, Sowers said.

Group member David McDaniel hoped they’d be reviewing a “rough draft” sooner rather than later.” Sowers agreed. He said they’d like to build it faster, but the current estimates are in a three- to four-year timeframe.

In other discussion, Sowers said WSF has a lot of leeway about what they can put into the request for bids – if they wanted the building to be sided in cedar, for example, they could specify that. There’ll also be more community engagement as they move further into the planning purpose. They’ll also have to decide if the CAG will go forward in its current configuration.

As the meeting moved toward the hour and a quarter mark, it was pointed out that WSF had just sent an alert about possible reduced service to Vashon tomorrow morning – “we have to make sure that doesn’t happen during construction,” WSF was told.

Yes, Cove Park north of the dock will be affected, temporarily, Thomas acknowledged in response to another comment. But, CAG member Frank Immel pressed, will it be closed? No, that’s not the intention, Thomas said. Immel and Clements said that the project should take the space it needs – “we as a community have lived without that (access) before,” like during the pump-station project last decade. Speaking of Cove Park, WSF is still working to acquire the “little white house” property north of the park and is in negotiations with King County, said WSF’s Charles Torres. They’re keeping the tenants apprised. They’d use the site for staging and break-room space for starters, with the intersection project starting as soon as next year. Then they’d use it for construction administration during that project, and find a way to occupy it during the interval before terminal construction begins.

Other discussion included logistics and aspects of the intersection project, which will signalize the intersection. Nearby residents along Upper Fauntleroy Way will be taken into consideration as the signal is built, the group was assured. WSF’s Mark Bandy said the signal height should not lead to major effects for nearby residents.

Here’s what happens next – the last steps before choosing a preferred alternative for the new dock’s size and shape:

No date yet for the next meeting – you can watch this page.

As mentioned in our morning traffic/transit notes, the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry route has been down to one boat since early this morning because of a fueling-vessel problem. But as of a short time ago, Washington State Ferries says, it’s returned to two-boat service.

(WSB photo, Fauntleroy dock last Sunday)

12:45 PM: Washington State Ferries has lost a boat to at least a week of repairs – and though that boat wasn’t on the Triangle Route, that route is still caught up in the resulting shuffle. The boat that’s out of service is one of the system’s biggest vessels, M/V Tacoma, which has been on the Bainbridge Island route, and WSF says it’s out for at least a week “due to a serious mechanical issue that was discovered last night.” So the same-size M/V Puyallup is moving to Bainbridge. Here’s where the Triangle Route effects come in: M/V Salish, which has been the unscheduled third boat (nicknamed “ghost boat”) on Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, will move to Edmonds/Kingston to replace Puyallup, so the route serving our dock will only have the regular two boats TFN. (Vessel Watch shows Salish northbound right now in fact, just past Alki Point.)

3:10 PM: Just in from WSF – the expected weeklong repairs of M/V Tacoma took only hours, and the Salish will be back as the unscheduled Triangle Route boat tomorrow.

Two Washington State Ferries notes of West Seattle interest:

FAUNTLEROY MOVES: M/V Cathlamet has been out of service for Coast Guard-required drydocking,” per WSF, but is expected to return to service later today, replacing M/V Kitsap on the Triangle Route, likely by the 5:45 pm Vashon to Fauntleroy sailing. Cathlamet and Kitsap are the same size/class, so that won’t change capacity. But Kitsap will then head to Mukilteo/Clinton, replacing 90-vehicle M/V Sealth, so that route will be back to “normal vehicle capacity,” WSF says. (Sealth in turn is headed to the San Juans to replace M/V Chelan, which, WSF says, “will move out of service for maintenance work through the end of October.”

FAUNTLEROY TERMINAL PROJECT: It’s not on the project website yet, but a Community Advisory Group member tells WSB that the next CAG meeting has been set for 6 pm Wednesday, October 23, online as usual. Watch for the viewing link to appear here soon. WSF continues working toward a “preferred alternative” for the terminal/dock-replacement project, expected to go into construction 2027-2029.

Washington State Ferries has been hosting two systemwide community meetings a year. This year, they added a third; if you missed the first session today, an identical session is set for 6 pm tomorrow.

We monitored the first one at noon today to get toplines from the WSF executives’ presentation and hear what people were asking about.

Toward the start, WSF’s Hadley Rodero, facilitating, polled the 125+ attendees to see what routes they generally use. Mukilteo-Clinton was the top response, at 29 percent, followed by Seattle-Bremerton at 18 percent, with Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth at only 8 percent, so there weren’t a lot of questions about the Triangle Route. But here’s what caught our attention otherwise:

STAFF SHORTAGE EBBING? System boss Steve Nevey decclared, “We’re well on our way to resolving our personnel issues.” Exactly how they’re doing that was described throughout the meeting in a variety of ways large and small, all the way to hosting high-school students to try to impress on them that it’s “cool” to work on a ferry. The system had 13 engine-room interns this year, noted WSF’s Nicole McIntosh, saying that 9 of them became employees.

VESSEL SHORTAGE: That will take longer to resolve, but they’re working toward finding a builder for new ferries, with about 12 companies around the country indicating initial interest, and the review of “pre-qualification” submissions imminent. Paying for them might become an issue if Initiative 2117 – repealing the state’s Climate Commitment Act – is passed in the general election; one attendee asked in Q&A if the CCA funded any of the new ferries and Nevey said about 25 percent of the cost was expected to come from that source. Another attendee asked about the “bonus boat” (aka “ghost boat”) on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth and asked why that “unscheduled” third boat couldn’t just be plugged into the full three-boat Triangle Route schedule. WSF’s John Vezina explained that the Triangle Route schedule is meant for three Issaquah-class boats, and the “bonus boat” is usually smaller, so it wouldn’t be able to keep up, and instead is being used – seven days a week as of last weekend – to help the other two stay on schedule.

FAUNTLEROY TERMINAL PROJECT: No new information, but WSF’s David Sowers briefly recapped where the project planning stands:

Once a preferred alternative is chosen early next year, the next stage of the planning/design process will take about a year and a half, he said.

RELIABILITY: Systemwide, reliability rose a bit January through August this year compared to last, reported Nevey (no route-by-route breakouts, though):

The presentations took just under half an hour, and the Q&A ran a full hour – mostly issues unrelated to the Triangle Route, so we aren’t noting them here, except for one point of interest: Asked when the ferries might offer wi-fi again, the answer was that they’re “investigating” it, after an unsuccessful test run long ago – Starlink is one of the systems they’re looking at.

Again, you have another chance to listen – and to ask questions – at 6 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, September 25); register here for the link.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The state’s automated tolling system Good To Go! might be a payment option for the future Fauntleroy ferry dock replacement, but it’s not worth relying on entirely, or worth giving a dedicated tollbooth.

That’s a key result from Washington State Ferries‘ long-anticipated study of how Good To Go! and advance ticketing might factor into the dock rebuild. The presentation was made at last week’s online meeting of the Community Advisory Group for the project – here’s the draft report provided to committee members. Below, WSF video of the meeting, followed by our summary:

First, for context, here’s where the project planning stands: WSF is continuing to screen nine alternatives for size/configuration of the new dock, all with footprints bigger than the current dock. WSF is expecting to zero in on a preferred alternative by the end of this year. Construction is currently expected in the 2027-2029 biennium.

The advisory-group members had long been asking for information on how alternate payment methods, both Good To Go! and advance ticketing, would affect performance of the new dock, and shape its design and operation expectations. GTG is not currently used by WSF; advance ticketing, Wave 2 Go, is, and they estimate 50% to 60% of Triangle Route (Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth) riders use that.

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