Ferry Service Update – Wet Paint on Car Deck
Ferry Service Update – Wet Paint on Car Deck
Update 9.28.2018 10:03 AM
Good morning,
Thank you for your patience this week while loads were somewhat limited during the re-surfacing of the ferry car deck. As of the end of today, Friday, Sept. 28, the project will be 95% complete. Some touch-up painting will need to occur next week in the yellow safety zones on one end of the vessel. This should not have much of an impact on traffic as that paint dries fairly quickly at 60 degrees or above; however, we wanted you to be aware that work will be taking place. We realize this project has caused some inconvenience for our riders. It was an important project that needed to get done for the safety or our crew and passengers.
Sincerely,
Captain Rachel Rowe
Ferry Operations Division Manager
Skagit County Public Works
Update 9.20.2018 9:50 AM
I have gotten several emails from folks regarding the painting project on the car deck of the ferry and its effects on operations this week.
We recognize that advance notice would have been very helpful, and we know that the wait times this week have been extremely long.
I’m hoping to provide more information about the project; I realize it won’t fix the inconvenience that the work has caused, but I’d like to answer some questions I have been asked.
Why are you painting the car deck?
· For the safety of our passengers and crew, we are repairing sections of the car deck where the paint has failed. We need the car deck to have a good coating of non-skid this winter.
Why now?
· We are nearing the end of the peak season, so traffic has slowed down, but there is still good weather.
Why didn’t you do the work after hours?
· Here’s the thing, we actually did the painting after hours, but the paint needed more time to cure.
Why was there no advance notification so that ferry riders could plan ahead?
· The original plan was to do this work entirely after hours with only small impacts to ferry traffic by prepping and priming small sections at a time that could cure quickly. Monday night after hours, the paint crew got a little over zealous and decided to get a lot done, including applying the final coat of non-skid. Their hope was that it would be dry by Tuesday morning. However, that was not the case. We sent out a notification and blocked off the areas of wet paint so they wouldn’t get damaged.
Since you are carrying fewer vehicles than usual, can you do extra runs to make up for it?
· Yes; we are doing extra runs whenever possible to clean up the lines. We did extra runs on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and we will continue to do so the remainder of this week and weekend.
Can you run non-stop all day and through the meal breaks?
· State law requires that we give our workers breaks; we intend to follow this law. Therefore, with current staffing levels, we are unable to run all day non-stop. However, during the work, we will do as many extra runs as we can.
HERE IS ADVANCED NOTICE FOR THE WORK NEXT WEEK:
We now have half of the car deck completed. No work on the painting project will take place today, Thursday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 23. Loads will not be limited; the ferry is operating at full capacity.
Painting on the car deck will resume next week (Monday, Sept. 24 through Friday, Sept. 28). We have good weather, and we need to finish up the project.
We will be sectioning off small areas each day. This means that loads will be limited by 2-3 cars most days; at worst, one day we would need to limit loads by about 5 cars.
We will do extra runs when we can. Please allow for extra wait time in line, and arrive early for your desired sailing.
We will do a double 11:15 a.m. run every day next week except Thursday, Sept. 27.
On Thursday, Sept. 27, the lane markings will be re-painted. This paint dries very quickly if applied at 60 degrees, so it will be drivable by 1:00 p.m.
Note: If you have heavy construction vehicles scheduled to go over to Guemes next week, please call our office so that we can be sure to accommodate.
As you all know, we are maintaining on older vessel; therefore, you will see crews performing work, such as painting, on the ferry from time to time. This is a good thing; this work needs to be done. Believe it or not, someone actually asked me if this work is being done to prove that the ferry is old and needs to be replaced. That is absolutely not the case; we want this vessel to continue to meet the needs of the service until such time a replacement vessel can be built.
Sincerely,
Captain Rachel Rowe
Ferry Operations Division Manager
Skagit County Public Works
Ferry Service Update – Wet Paint on Car Deck
9.18.2018
This week, our crew is working to apply new non-skid coating to sections of the ferry car deck while we have some nice weather.
Because we need to allow time for the paint to dry, there will be times when loads are limited or we cannot allow big trucks.
This is an important job that needs to get done before the winter. The work should be done by the end of this week.
Please watch your step as you board the ferry, and pay attention to traffic cones that might be blocking off areas of wet paint.
We appreciate your patience, and if you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Captain Rachel Rowe
Ferry Operations Division Manager
Skagit County Public Works
Anacortes Terminal – 500 I Ave. Anacortes, WA 98221
Ferry Office: (360) 293-6433 Cell: (360) 333-1496
Direct Line: (360) 416-1466 Fax: (360) 293-1899
rrowe@co.skagit.wa.us
www.skagitcounty.net/ferry
Source Email Skagit County 9.18.2018 8:05 AM