Date:  Friday, May 23, 2008

Contact:

Joe Irwin, Hood Canal Bridge Communications, 360-507-6521
Becky Hixson, Hood Canal Bridge Project, 253-305-6450

TACOMA – With the final phase of the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge project just about a year away, the project team is finalizing plans for how to keep traffic moving during the May-June 2009 closure of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Since 1999, WSDOT has worked with local community and elected leaders to develop a mitigation plan for when the Hood Canal Bridge will be closed for six weeks during May-June 2009 while WSDOT and its contractor, Kiewit-General, remove and replace its eastern half. The option to use a passenger-only water shuttle across Hood Canal was selected as part of the mitigation plan.

Recently, WSDOT was asked to consider operating a passenger-only water shuttle between Port Ludlow and Kingston instead of between South Point and Lofall.

Following through with its commitment of taking public comment to heart, WSDOT is asking citizens which of the two passenger-only water shuttle options they prefer to use during the planned six-week bridge closure – South Point to Lofall or Port Ludlow to Kingston.

WSDOT is polling residents via e-mail, phone, handouts, newspaper ads and on its Web site, http://www.hoodcanalbridge.com/, about which transportation route across the Hood Canal would best serve their needs. Information on how the options will affect travel times between the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and a map of the routes each would follow is included in the on-line survey. The survey will be open until June 6, 2008.

“We know how important the Hood Canal Bridge is to the people and economy of the Olympic Peninsula,” said Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond. “The public can really help us in developing the final phase of our plan to keep people moving during the closure by taking the survey.”

The South Point to Lofall water shuttle plan can transport 600 people an hour, offers service every 30 minutes and has supporting transit connections to local communities as well as the 1,500 stall park-and-ride lots at Shine Pit and Port Gamble. The South Point to Lofall plan was approved by the Peninsula Regional Transportation Policy Organization (PRTPO) in 2002.

The Port Ludlow to Kingston water shuttle plan can transport 450 people an hour, offers service every 45 minutes and has supporting transit connections to local communities as well as 535 parking spaces at park-and-ride lots at the Port Ludlow Marina and the Ludlow Cove development and 590 parking spaces at the Port of Kingston, Bayside Community Church and George’s Corner. The plan has been supported by some civic, business and tourism groups.

The SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge retrofit and replacement project will improve the existing structure, making it wider, safer and more reliable. For more information, visit http://www.hoodcanalbridge.com/.

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