SEATTLE (AP) — Gov. Chris Gregoire will be at the Todd shipyards in Seattle Thursday to announce her plan for replacing four ferries that have been taken out of use, halting car-ferry service to Port Townsend.
Legislative leaders have said the 80-year-old ferries are too old to repair.
Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond idled the Steel Electric ferries last month because of unsafe hull corrosion.
The Steel Electric ferries are the only ones in the fleet that can navigate the narrow channel at Keystone on Whidbey Island.
A passenger-only ferry is now serving the Port Townsend-Keystone run, but businesses in Port Townsend complain they are losing business without the car traffic.
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Earlier story
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to release her plan for ferry service between Port Townsend and Keystone as part of her ferries budget on Thursday, but it is not known if her plan will entail repairs or replacement, said Jill Satran, spokeswoman.
“She will be rolling out her ferries budget, specifically addressing ferries, not the entire [Department of] Transportation budget,” Satran said Tuesday.
More details will be worked out later, but the broad outlines of the plan should be available Thursday, she said.
On Nov. 20, state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond idled the last of the four 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries – which are the only vehicle ferries in the state system that can negotiate the shallow, narrow Keystone harbor – because of safety concerns.
A passenger ferry, the MV Snohomish, has been on the route between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island since Nov. 25, but businesses say they are losing money because of a lack of a car ferry.
Members of the state Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee told Washington State Ferries officials on Monday that the Steel Electrics are too far gone to repair.
But the decision is the governor’s.
Satran didn’t say if the plan would involve repair of any of the Steel Electrics or replacement.
Gregoire is consulting with the state Transportation Department and Joint Transportation Committee, Satran said.
