Editorial: A second ferry, just as promised

The Coupeville route across Admiralty Inlet from Keystone Harbor to Port Townsend should have two boats before the summer’s out, fulfilling a long-term promise by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen. It wasn’t long after the two ancient Steel Electric boats were suddenly pulled from the route in the fall of 2007 that Haugen, D-Camano Island, vowed they would be replaced by new boats. The decision to pull the Steel Electrics seemed hasty, and the route went on to be served by a small rental car ferry and, occasionally, passenger-only ferries. It muddled through until the first of three new ferries was built.

March 29, 2011 4:44 pm

The Coupeville route across Admiralty Inlet from Keystone Harbor to Port Townsend should have two boats before the summer’s out, fulfilling a long-term promise by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen.

It wasn’t long after the two ancient Steel Electric boats were suddenly pulled from the route in the fall of 2007 that Haugen, D-Camano Island, vowed they would be replaced by new boats. The decision to pull the Steel Electrics seemed hasty, and the route went on to be served by a small rental car ferry and, occasionally, passenger-only ferries. It muddled through until the first of three new ferries was built.

The new Chetzemoka finally took over this fall, sending the tiny but feisty Steilacoom II back to its home in Pierce County. Things more or less resumed to normal as a single boat capable of carrying 65 cars served the route alone, waiting for help during the busy spring and summer season.

The new Salish was already under construction when Washington State Ferries threw a monkey wrench into the Admiralty Inlet plans by intimating the Salish would be sent to the San Juans, leaving Admiralty Inlet with a single boat all year. Whidbey Island merchants suffered apoplexy, having already experienced a significant drop in business over the last three years due to ferry problems.

Haugen vowed that the State Ferries decision would not stand, and last week the Legislature stood with the senator, earmarking the Salish for Admiralty. The third new boat, the Kennewick, may send the Chetzemoka to the Point Defiance-to-Tahlequah route, although that is uncertain at this point. But whatever happens in that discussion, the Coupeville route from Keytstone to Port Townsend will be served by two boats during the busy tourist season beginning this summer. This is great news for merchants on both sides of the inlet.

The route to the new ferries was complicated and hurried, and the new boats have their detractors, but the fact is they were built on time and on budget, and Sen. Haugen, D-Camano Island, got the job done for her constituents.

Haugen, as does any politician, has her critics. But when there is a transportation crisis, it’s good to have the chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee on your side.