The Final Environmental Impact Study has been completed over plans to shift cruise ships from Terminal 30 to Terminal 91, and the next step is adoption of the study by the Board of Port Commissioners, said project manager Catherine Chu.
"We're anticipating that will happen this month," Chu told a small crowd at a Feb. 8 meeting of the Magnolia Community Club.
The move is necessary because container traffic has recently ramped up, and the Port needs the space at T-30 to handle the growth. Cruise-ship traffic has also grown exponentially, increasing from 6 ships in 1999 to 200 today, according to the FEIS.
The T-91 project includes a two-story, 162,000-square-foot cruise terminal on the south end of the pier, which has been home to fishing vessels and barge traffic, Chu said.
Some maintenance dredging will be necessary along T-91, and there will also be a transformer and switching gear next to the terminal building so cruise ships can hook up to shore power instead of using shipboard power to generate electricity, she said. Those ships without the capability of hooking up to shore power will have to burn low-sulfur diesel fuel, Chu added.
An area just north of the cruise terminal will be reserved for taxis, buses and shuttles dropping off or picking up passengers, and they will have access via the Galer Street Flyover, she said. Long-term passenger parking will be available on Port property north of the Magnolia Bridge, and access will be on a ramp coming off the Magnolia Bridge, she said.
The idea of setting up cellphone parking like at the airport was considered early on, Chu said. "But now, no private vehicles will be allowed on the pier."
Traffic is a big issue for many people in Magnolia and Queen Anne, and the impact will especially affect 15th and Elliott avenues west. But a traffic study indicates most cruise-related traffic will use area roads at off-peak times, she said.
The Port anticipates a decline in cruise-ship traffic, but the volume of passengers will grow because the ships are getting larger, shifting from 2,700 to 3,200 per ship, Chu said. But the Port doesn't foresee two of the larger vessels docking at the same time, she stressed.
Assuming Port commissioners OK the plan, construction at T-91 would begin next June and be completed in 2008.
Reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com.[[In-content Ad]]
