To: Bill Turner and Matt Reynolds
Re: 6th Street Revision

Following is a summary of the points the Guemes Island Ferry Committee recommended for consideration when we met with you recently.
 
1) The new ferry terminal building may displace as many as 19 current "on dock" parking places. Present lots may easily overflow, particularly during summer months, forcing parking in neighborhood areas that are not currently affected.  The proposed current plan calls for residents-only parking on both the north and south sides of 6th St. This eliminates any ferry user parking in the immediate 6th Street area and will just push the parking problem farther away from the ferry terminal.  We believe that concentrating parking opportunities as close to the terminal as possible reduces problems on adjacent streets.  The ferry line on 6th St. will only be pushed farther east if the present "no parking" areas are allowed to stand. When the Kiwanis Park was developed we lost 50-60 unofficial parking spaces that were replaced with the new lot on 6th and K Street, but creating the new lot took several years, forcing many to park on nearby blocks.  

2)  Current ferry usage is trending toward more people parking cars on both sides and becoming foot passengers.  Getting people out of their cars and "walking on" is encouraged in the ferry plan to extend the life of the ferry. Since 2003 the vehicle ridership has been in decline and the walk-on ridership has been increasing even as population growth continues on Guemes (see graphs provided).  This will also put increased pressure in the area to find more parking. Operating two ferries on this run would be very problematic since the load and unload time exceeds the crossing time.

3)  The ferry terminal, at this location, has been in existence for over seventy years and the line for cars awaiting the ferry necessitated widening the street for an additional "holding lane."  We compare this access lane to the ferry terminal similar to a long existing "right of way" that needs to be integrated into the 6th St. plan in a way that doesn't reduce the amount of space needed for cars waiting in line for the ferry.  Also this ferry "line" should be used for annual ferry outages and painted with diagonal parking stripes.  In order to accommodate this need, we believe that the curb should run straight west from the curb adjacent to the County parking lot with no “bulb outs” all the way to the 6th and I intersection except for driveways. In the summer, the line often goes back east to M Street. Narrowing the existing right of way is not realistic given the amount of ferry and local traffic that must pass and stage along this long- standing, widened street.

4) The intersection at 6th and I Streets requires an acceptable turning radius to accommodate large trucks and trailers.  This intersection also needs to accommodate vehicular access to the lower level parking area on the east side of the line of cars waiting for the ferry.  Also the area to the east side of the waiting line needs to accommodate SKAT bus access to the ferry terminal building when ferry traffic is debarking. The currently proposed "bulb out" interferes with this need and should be removed from the plan and replaced with a low-level curb, like a continuous ADA corner, around the corner and to the north.

5)  The Anacortes long-range master plan should be amended to include the properties on the north side of 6th St. for Guemes ferry parking in coordination with the County since the County cannot condemn property in the city. Coordination with Skagit County to develop a long-range plan for these properties and the ferry terminal area should be pursued. Purchase of these properties would solve a lot of problems.

6) Skagit County needs to provide a plan to the City for the dock area and the terminal building in order to coordinate lanes of traffic from 6th St. There also needs to be a working agreement between the City and County on the management of ferry and local traffic for the ferry and other mutual issues.

7)  The designation of the 6th and I Street area as an entry point to the Tommy Thompson trail, as well as being a preferred location for kayakers to launch and leave their vehicles, adds additional pressure on the parking facilities and availability that the city needs to consider.

8)  Once security is improved for parking in all Guemes Ferry County Lots, with the advent of surveillance cameras, more people will be encouraged to park in these designated areas. Car theft and break-ins continue to be a major problem in these lots. Parking continues to be most evident on 6th St. in the summer when the current lots overflow.  Permitted resident parking along the south side of 6th street is going to surprise many summer residents of the island and will be an enforcement issue with attendant ill will.  It sets an unusual precedent for the City and will be viewed as a further loss of long- existing Ferry staging rights along 6th St. 

Glen Veal
Guemes Island Ferry Committee