State’s first new ferry terminal in 40 years opens Dec. 29

New Mukilteo multimodal ferry terminal honors tribal history of land

||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

MUKILTEO – State ferry riders on the Mukilteo/Clinton route will get an upgrade on Tuesday evening, Dec. 29. That’s when Washington State Ferries’ new, safer and more efficient Mukilteo multimodal terminal will open to replace its cramped 63-year-old facility.

“We’re excited to welcome ferry riders and the public to our first new terminal in 40 years,” said Amy Scarton, head of WSF. “With its many green features and tribal-influenced design, it’s unlike any other in the system.”

Opening day timeline

The new terminal will open around 5:50 p.m. Dec. 29, upon arrival of the 5:35 p.m. departure out of Clinton. That sailing will mark the end of an 18-hour closure of the route to move floating marine structures from the old terminal to the new one.

Tollbooths in Clinton will reopen at 4:30 p.m. Tollbooths in Mukilteo will open at 5 p.m. so customers can board the 6:10 p.m. first sailing out of the new terminal.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings, there will be no grand opening ceremony on Dec. 29.

The site that formerly housed an abandoned U.S. Air Force fueling pier is now home to a project that restores it to a more natural setting and offers ferry customers and Mukilteo residents a waterfront promenade to stroll or have a seat and enjoy the view. The project also features a new transit center and is a short walk from the Sounder Train station for commuter connections.

The design of the passenger building accounts for sea-level rise and meets current seismic standards. An overhead walkway will streamline loading by directing walk-on passengers to load and unload directly to the passenger deck of ferries while vehicles will load to the car deck. Walk-on passengers will temporarily continue to load via the car deck until the overhead ramp is complete.

Honoring the site’s history

The project honors the tribal history of the land, the site of the 1855 Point Elliott treaty signing. The passenger building, designed in the form a Coast Salish longhouse, features a large gathering hall with views to water and land and a comfortable place for people to work, relax and stretch their legs while waiting for the ferry.

The new terminal was also built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, which means it is certified as environmentally efficient. The site has many resource-saving features – solar panels, rainwater harvesting, natural ventilation, radiant floor heat, stormwater treatment, rain gardens and more.

WSF, a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation, is the largest ferry system in the U.S. and safely and efficiently carries nearly 24 million people a year through some of the most majestic scenery in the world.