This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
The Pt. Townsent chamber has a fever*, and the only cure is more passenger ferry:
The $100,000 the chamber is willing to chip in was initially earmarked to help fund passenger-only ferry service during the Hood Canal Bridge closure, scheduled for spring 2009. Caldwell, however, said the service could start much earlier and become permanent if a private boat operator can forge agreements with local merchants and if the city or the state is willing to match the chamber’s contribution.
Companies that might be interested in operating the service include Port Townsend’s Puget Sound Express and Clipper Navigation, the company that operates the high-speed Victoria Clipper between Seattle and Vancouver Island.
“We can start this service long before the bridge closes,” Caldwell said. “There is a boat available now.”
*See here if you don’t get the reference.