SEATTLE — Back in August, when the Washington State Ferry System’s contractors started removing a massive old, outdated and unused Mukilteo pier, we were told it would a year and a half to get rid of all the toxic creosote, which neighbors say produced an abhorrent smell.
Friday they’ll be pleased to learn the demolition took just a third that much time.
“We have about 20 more pylons to go and then it will be totally removed,” explained Nicole McIntosh, who is overseeing the project for the ferry system.
That will happen by next month, a full year ahead of schedule.
“As soon as we started working, the pier started coming out quicker than we had anticipated and they had exactly the right crew and equipment available at the right time,” McIntosh continued.
By mid-2019, there will be a bigger, safer, easier to get to terminal to replace the current one next to the demolition site, and ferry officials say the new numbers out of Mukilteo show that can’t come soon enough.
“So Mukilteo for us is a really busy route,” explained Ian Sterling with Washington State Ferries. “We saw a jump of about 4 percent over 2014, so 2015 was a 4 percent jump. That means total ridership was about 4 million passengers out of here; it was also our busiest route for vehicle traffic.”
The system hasn’t seen numbers like that since 2006.
KIRO
