The West Seattle Water Taxi is in danger of losing a place to dock if the current rebuilding plans for Colman Dock are carried out.

The Washington State Ferrie's plan is to remove the northern section of Colman Dock leaving open water and to tear down Pier 50 on the southern side of the dock, currently being leased by King County. The move would not happen until 2015.

Pier 50 is also the dock for the Passenger Only service from Vashon Island.

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott is looking for alternatives but the fact is that finding one is not looking likely at this point.

"Once we learned of WSF’s plans for Colman Dock, we began a siting study," McDermott who is chair for the board that oversees the ferry district said, "We are now in the preliminary stages of that study. What we know at this point is that the options are limited. Few meet our desire to find a location that is both affordable and convenient to business hubs and other modes of a transportation."

In previous years, and with smaller vessels, the water taxi docked at Pier 55 and earlier, Pier 66. But Pier 50 has been the choice since 2009. It best meets the needs of commuters since it is close to bus connections and other transit options.

The public can comment on the plan for Colman Dock until March 15. To comment, visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/ColmanDock, email FaulknE@wsdot.wa.gov or mail comments to Washington State Ferries, Attention: Marsha Tolon, 2901 3rd Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98121.

Nicole McIntosh, WSF’s Terminal Design Manager said at a public meeting on Feb, 17 that the wood at Colman Dock is in need of replacement by a concrete pilings and dock structure. There are passenger and vehicle conflicts in the current layout which the new design would resolve.

"We're in the very early phases of the Colman Dock project. We're out soliciting comments from the public and agencies to help us shape how we're going to operate in the future."

"The dock is old and needs to be replaced due to seismic conditions. There are piles in there that were put in there in the 30's. We need to make sure it can withstand the next earthquake.It's configuration is problematic with pedestrian and vehicle conflicts. When we replace the dock right now the plan is to replace some holding lanes on the south that would in fact displace the passenger only facility as it stands today."

McIntosh said the dock must be built to withstand a "thousand year earthquake" and by comparison the Nisqually quake was "a 37 year earthquake."

The dialog between WSF and King County thus far has been limited. WSF sees the responsibility for the replacement of the dock as falling to King County.

"We'd love it if King County and other passenger ferry operators could suggest that themselves. They are the ones in the business and they know where their customers want to go. We'd love to hear from them. If that is around Colman Dock, great but it may be that it isn't. We've talked to them a few times. I think it's early in the process for them and they need to get up to speed. David Moseley (WSF Director) has had discussions with Dow Constantine."

Michelle Allison, the legislative aide for Councilmember McDermott who focuses on transportation issues commented on the dialog thus far between King County and WSDOT.

"We have a responsibility to ask what would work for our needs, but we need to know what WSF is planning so it makes sense for us to part of it. If we were to be co-located it's important for us to be involved in those plans. We feel like this is something that could have been addressed a little earlier than now. The planning is pretty far down the road and it takes time for us to figure all these details out and having this conversation late in the game isn't helpful.
We do feel some frustration with that."

The transformation of the downtown Seattle waterfront is also an issue facing WSDOT and King County.

"There's a larger question here. We need to look at what the future of the waterfront will look like in a decade. It's going to look very different than it does today. Being able to have that future vision is important. We want to say, 'What makes sense? A bi-furcated plan doesn't make sense so how can we avoid that?"

She noted that passenger only ferry service is likely to grow. "If you do it correctly it's only going to grow. We've seen growth this past year in our two rides (West Seattle and Vashon). If we can get some other jurisdictions to partner with us I think their communities will benefit."

"We know the conversations with WSF will continue and we really hope that it will be really genuine with an eye towards collaboration."

WDOT has a Frequently Asked Questions Page about Pier 50 and their reasoning and plans here.