Dock work at the Steamship Authority’s Vineyard Haven terminal, originally planned for this winter, is on hold until the Tisbury conservation commission reviews the project.

Steamship Authority general manager Robert Davis announced the schedule change at the port council meeting Tuesday, saying the state had determined the construction needed to go through the town committee. 

“Because of that, the bidding on the project has to be delayed,” Mr. Davis said, estimating the postponement will last until this fall.

Engineers have inspected the docks and found no urgent need for immediate repairs, he said.

The Vineyard Haven terminal is still in line for slip work over the winter, Mr. Davis said: Transfer bridges for both slips are due to be replaced, likely in March, after Nantucket receives new transfer bridges in February.

Each transfer bridge takes a week to 10 days to install, Mr. Davis said, which could make Vineyard Haven a single-slip port for two weeks or more.

The terminal building project in Woods Hole is about one-third finished and on schedule for completion in June 2026, Mr. Davis said.

Originally designed as a single, two-story structure, the controversial building met with strong opposition from residents on both sides of Vineyard Sound who called for a scaled-back design.

Redesigned with a single story, to reduce its impact on water views, the new terminal building will replace the small, prefabricated ticket office that has been operating for more than seven years under a temporary permit from the Falmouth building department.

“There’s a passenger waiting area, a ticket/customer service area [and] the restrooms, which are important for the village,” Mr. Davis said.

The new building also has offices for the terminal manager and terminal agents and a break room for building employees, he said. 

Mechanical equipment to run the building will be housed inside, rather than on the roof or outside, Mr. Davis said.

A nearby utility building will hold electrical equipment and other utilities that would have occupied the second floor of the original design.

A break room for dock workers is also part of the utility building, Mr. Davis said.

With construction in full swing, the Steamship Authority has suspended its general standby policy in favor of the Blue Line, which makes a limited number of same-day automobile trips available to Island residents registered with the SSA.

Eligible drivers received a large blue postcard last week notifying them of the Blue Line policy, which is also posted on the boat line’s website and social media, director of shoreside operations Alison Fletcher said.

The line went into effect Saturday, although only about 15 motorists took advantage of it over the weekend, she said.

“Due to the time of year, there’s been a lot of space [on boats],” Ms. Fletcher said.

Port council member Joe Sollitto questioned whether general standby could be restored for Vineyard Haven now that the dock work has been postponed, but Ms. Fletcher said she was wary of confusing drivers with policies that vary between the ports.

Also, she said, the Vineyard Haven terminal has more room for the Blue Line, with two lanes totaling 20 spaces.

Woods Hole is more cramped, with no more than 12 Blue Line spaces, but Ms. Fletcher said the Steamship Authority is readying a call-back policy for drivers when the line is temporarily full.

“We’ll tell them ‘Go off into town, go grab a coffee, run some errands. We’ll send a text when we need you back on the property for the line-up,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to get on that boat, but it just means that we have room … to line up on the property,” Ms. Fletcher added.