From Crosscut.com
By C.B. Hall
As it floats into dock, the Chetzemoka, one of three new boats in the Washington State Ferries fleet, presents an unusual, asymmetrical image. The designers placed the tower structure, which houses the elevators, stacks and staircases, off to one side.
The Chetzemoka, and its sister ships Kennewick and Salish, have also gained a certain fame as the only ships in the fleet that list.
All three boats, designed to hold 64 vehicles, have now been delivered to WSF, although the newest, the Kennewick, has not yet entered service. With the Kennewick undergoing its final, get-the-bugs-out sea trials, those around the ferry system, including riders, are continuing to assess various aspects of the vessel replacement program.
The new vessels’ introduction acquired a new, unsettling context earlier this month, when Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond, in a presentation to the Legislature’s transportation committees, indicated that five ferry routes would have to be eliminated altogether in the absence of further transfers from the state’s Motor Vehicle Fund, which has propped up ferry operations for more than a decade.
To read the full article and reader comments, go to: crosscut.com/2012/01/26/ferries/21811/State-s-newest-ferries
(Editor’s note: Washington State Transportation Commission member, Lopez resident Tom Cowan, will make a presentation to the County Charter Review Commission (CRC) this Saturday, Jan. 28. The CRC will meet Grace at Grace Episcopal Church on Fisherman Bay Rd. The meeting will begin at approximately 8:00 am, and end by 2:00 p.m.)
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