Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

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Jeremy
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Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Jeremy »

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/201408 ... key-hurdle

New Mukilteo ferry terminal clears key hurdle

By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Writer
A key federal agency has given its blessing to the building of a new ferry terminal in Mukilteo.

Washington State Ferries announced Thursday it had received a “record of decision” from the Federal Transit Administration that signals completion of the lengthy environmental review process for the $129 million project.

The decision, issued Aug. 22, represents the last major bureaucratic hurdle the state needed to clear in order to move ahead with final design and construction of the new terminal roughly one-third mile east of the existing one.

“This is a major milestone for this project. This was the big piece,” said Capt. George Capacci, interim director of Washington State Ferries.

“After a decade of environmental review and collaboration with federal, state, and local officials, tribes, and the public we’re looking forward to building a safe and efficient new terminal that opens the Mukilteo waterfront and improves access to transit,” he said.

The new terminal will replace the current 60-year-old facility. Last year, it was used by 3.9 million vehicles and riders. It has not undergone any significant improvements since the 1980s and, as a result, is in need of repairs and is vulnerable to damage in earthquakes.

Once complete, the new terminal will have a pedestrian loading bridge, a six-bay bus transit center and improved connections to the nearby Sound Transit commuter rail station.

It also will feature a vehicle holding area with a capacity of about 266 vehicles, reconstruction of the First Street/Park Avenue intersection and the realignment and extension of First Street as a four-lane roadway with sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

State and federal dollars will cover the $129 million cost of Mukilteo Multimodal Project. As of now, Washington State Ferries has lined up roughly $47 million in federal aid and $82 million in state dollars. Most of those dollars are authorized but will need to be appropriated to be spent, he said.

The first phase involves removal of an old pier on the Mukilteo Tank Farm to make room for the new terminal. Washington State Ferries hopes to seek bids in October, with work to get started in spring 2015.

In the meantime, final design of the terminal must be completed, Capacci said. Washington State Ferries is aiming to advertise for bids on the project in August 2016 and construction starting in 2017. The new terminal is expected to open in 2019.

The federal decision provided a much-needed piece of good news for beleaguered leaders of Washington State Ferries.

A series of recent incidents — including cancelations, vessel breakdowns and overloaded boats — have incited calls from lawmakers for changes in how the system is managed and who is managing it.

And the agency is without a permanent leader, though that could soon change.

A search is under way for a new ferries director and Sunday is the deadline to apply.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com and on Twitter at @dospueblos
Iqjumpuw
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Iqjumpuw »

Great news for ferry users and travelers, bad news for us crabbers. :( I've never really been successful at the oil dock though.
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Grateful Diver
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Grateful Diver »

Hate to see the loss of the best crabbing spot in Puget Sound, but the ferry really does need to be relocated ... and that's probably the best place for it.

Perhaps the divers should consider putting some structure between it and the T-dock to attract the crabs ... they'll have to go somewhere ...

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isac777
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by isac777 »

Thats a cool dive even if u dont get much crab..dammit
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Nwbrewer
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Nwbrewer »

Losing the Oil dock sucks, but being able to scooter from the silver cloud (t-dock) around to the lighthouse park will be pretty cool....
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Jeff Pack
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Jeff Pack »

true...
=============================================

- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it

CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
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thefeve
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by thefeve »

must.

get.

scooter.

:taco:
I think you've figured out the root cause of your problems. Even sea lions get annoyed by splitfin divers silting out their dive sites. Switch back to your jets and you'll be safe from the sea lion silt prevention patrol from now on. - NWbrewer
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Jeff Pack
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Jeff Pack »

scooter crack is good crack...
=============================================

- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it

CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
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Joshua Smith
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Joshua Smith »

Nwbrewer wrote:Losing the Oil dock sucks, but being able to scooter from the silver cloud (t-dock) around to the lighthouse park will be pretty cool....
My thought as well. Aside from curent, will this actually be possible? I find it hard to believe that there won't be some restriction or ordinance or something that would prevent divers from doing this.
I've always wanted to check out the area under the ferry, just to look for whatever people might have thrown overboard....
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dwinslow1
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by dwinslow1 »

We need a new reef to replace the oil dock, to bad the state is not required to replace the habitat they are taking out.
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Jeff Pack
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Jeff Pack »

The state does as it wants, if it was a wetlands, the owner would be required to build another one to replace it, only private citizens are held to the laws and codes
=============================================

- I got a good squirt in my mouth
- I would imagine that there would be a large amount of involuntary gagging
- I don't know about you but I'm not into swallowing it

CCR discussion on Caustic Cocktails.
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Jeremy
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Jeremy »

Received the following tip:
I called the Department of Fish and Wildlife todayabout the removal of the fuel pier the person we need to speak to is David Brock 425 775 1312 ext 114 .. maybe we can get some pressure on them to take the structure and build a reef there..
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Greg Jensen
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Greg Jensen »

Once the pilings are gone, we'll lose the insanely high Dungeness crab population that is in that area. An artificial reef won't serve as a replacement, crab-wise, because it won't result in the masses of mussels and barnacles sloughing off from above that currently support the high populations there.
The pilings for the new terminal will eventually provide some of this, but to a much, much smaller extent, and that area will be off-limits to diving anyway.
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by DanClements »

Hey all: Mukilteo is going through a waterfront planning process, and I was asked to represent dive community. Have a schedule conflict and another individual is attending. Bottom line is with the new ferry terminal location, the future of diving at the Silver Cloud is very much up in the air. Parking, the ferry crossing in front of the area, and the removal of the fishing pier and ferry terminal mean it will be much more exposed to recreational boat traffic.

A couple of years back several of us met with the Mayor and other staff to see about setting up a marine reserve a la Edmonds. The City showed no interest. So it is really important to let the City know how many divers use the area, when they dive, local businesses they support, etc.

I also think there should be an alternate plan to set up a dive park at Edgewater Beach, at the east end of the tank farm property. This area is out of the way of traffic, ferries, and has a bottom contour that does not fall off as quickly as the Silver Cloud site.

Going to be very interesting to see how this redevelopment effort plays out. You can find the new layout on the WSDOT ferry site. Pay close attention to the new ferry parking alignment and multi-modal parking needs.
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Norris
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Norris »

I am definitely in. I was at the counsel meeting when they fought to bring back diving in the lighthouse area. Please keep us posted on what we can do to have a voice.
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Mac
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by Mac »

DanClements wrote: A couple of years back several of us met with the Mayor and other staff to see about setting up a marine reserve a la Edmonds. The City showed no interest. So it is really important to let the City know how many divers use the area, when they dive, local businesses they support, etc.
I'm not sure if it was a matter of them not being interested, or simply a matter of it being out of their jurisdiction. I believe that anything that happens in the water is under the authority of the State (Dept of Fish/Wildlife, I think), and possibly the Army Corps of Engineers. In Edmonds, I think the City only manages the land facilities.

It's great to hear that the City is inviting the dive community to be part of the waterfront development process though. If the dive site ultimately moves from the Silver Cloud to the current ferry terminal, it'd be cool to see some park facilities go in there, and I think the City could be in a position to make that happen. A restroom and changing facility would be a great addition to that dive site. Please keep us posted if there's any kind of public forum where some of us can represent the diving community.

I did a little research online, and it looks like the public comment period for the environmental permitting occurred back in 2006, so it's probably too late to challenge them on the loss of crab habitat and push for some kind of mitigation effort. That's unfortunate.
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by CaptnJack »

DanClements wrote:A couple of years back several of us met with the Mayor and other staff to see about setting up a marine reserve a la Edmonds. The City showed no interest. So it is really important to let the City know how many divers use the area, when they dive, local businesses they support, etc.
You'd be surprised at the resistance to additional marine reserves in Puget Sound. A lot of the fishing folks believe they have given up enough (area, places) and that there's no basis for establishing additional reserves.

But diving amenities don't necessarily need to have a marine reserve associated with them. They could be as simple as reef structures similar to Salt Water State Park, showers, and decent stairs. Segregating divers from boat ramps is pretty crucial though.
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SeahorseDeb
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Re: Mukilteo Oil Dock Slated For Death in Spring 2015

Post by SeahorseDeb »

I've dove that site since 1977... Sad to see the best crabbing going away....
Why is the water so green......
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