SHINE — Travelers wanting to cross Hood Canal Bridge have a deadline — 8 o”clock tonight.
Otherwise, you’ll have to drive around, take a ferry or turn around and go home.
The bridge will be barricaded to traffic and is scheduled to be closed until 4 a.m. Thursday.
The second closure will allow about 60 Kiewit-General Construction workers to replace the 640-foot eastern approach span to the bridge on the Kitsap County end.
The ramp has been prefabricated, but the old span must be rolled out for the new ramp – at a pace of 5 feet per hour.
Becky Hixson, Hood Canal Bridge communications manager, said the Poulsbo-based contracting firm is “ready to roll” on the 22-step project.
To get around the bridge closure, free Aqua Express foot ferry service will accommodate passengers Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between Port Ludlow Marina and the Port of Kingston Marina.
Underwritten by several Ludlow and Jefferson County businesses and organizations for $12,500, three daily Ludlow passenger ferry departures are scheduled at 5:45 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and 5:55 p.m.
The early morning run leaving Ludlow aboard the 149-seat MV Two Harbors is scheduled to connect with Aqua Express’ 290-seat vessel in Kingston.
The larger passenger ferry then cruises on to downtown Seattle’s Argosy Cruises Pier 55, north of the state ferry’s Colman Dock.
The 3:45 p.m. Aqua Express Seattle departure is the only ferry run back to Kingston, landing at 4:25 p.m., departing for Ludlow at 4:40 p.m. to arriving at 5:40 p.m.
While the Port Ludlow to Kingston connection is free, passengers will have to pay $5.50 each way on the Kingston-Seattle runs.
Those getting a free ticket in Ludlow will receive a pass guaranteeing them a return trip from Kingston, officials said.
Other alternative routes around the bridge include highways 101 and 3 to Tacoma and Bremerton and the Port Townsend-Keystone state ferry run and then on to south Whidbey Island for the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry.
