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02/01/2007: "WSF Has Big Plans For FH"

The Town Of Friday Harbor will meet tonight to discuss the Friday Harbor Master Plan (FHMP) that addresses various design options to speed up the loading and unloading of cars at the Friday Harbor Dock. While there are a number of options presented in the Master Plan, there is one that may be floating to the top, that if adopted as the direction WSF decides to go, will have a major impact not only on how fast cars and trucks can get on-and-off of the ferry, but will also destroy at least two sites in town of some historical interest and value.

The plan in question may require the destruction or the moving of -at the least- the old wood frame building on property (yellow outline on photo) next to the holding area (outlined in blue) and the construction of a "direct route through the existing Sunken Park (outlined in red) and under Harrison Street", which would connect the existing WSF parking and holding areas (outlined in blue)

The FHMP is the result of a quarter million dollar study to "study traffic improvements around the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor". How much it will cost to make any of the possible improvements was not part of the study, and is not known.

The study was commissioned to address projected needs resulting from an expected 70% increase in ridership in the statewide system by 2030; and as much as 75% in SJ County. One of the problems with the existing FH terminal is the time it takes to load and off-load the ferry. This time is called the "dwell time", and if that time can be reduced, WSF states that "it may be possible to add a mid-afternoon sailing to Friday Harbor".

If the Town Council decides they wish to stay on board with the planning process, then the Town will join the other key players, such as the Port of Friday Harbor, and the SJ County Council, and work with WSF to come up with a final draft plan to speed things up a bit in sleepy little Friday Harbor.

If the Friday Harbor Council does continue with the process, and it is expected they will, then at some point near the end of the planning process there will be a new study presented on what the expected costs may be to complete one, or more, of the projects that survives the planning program. Based on past cost estimates by WSF, the estimate may not be an accurate final cost of the project, and the projected positive and negative impacts may not be the actual impacts that result.