Steamship Authority general manager Alex Kryska said Tuesday that he expects to open the new terminal building in Woods Hole early next week, once final preparations have been completed.
“With any construction project, you have a punch list of items that you need to clean up,” Mr. Kryska told the authority’s governing board during the meeting on Nantucket. “If we can get that all done this week, we’ll be open by Tuesday.”
Steamship Authority officials confirmed on June 23 that the terminal would open on June 25
The Steamship Authority recently received a certificate of occupancy for the terminal building, which rises high above its surroundings because of 21st-century building codes for flood-prone areas.
Originally planned as a two-story structure, the building was scaled back to one floor after an outcry from Falmouth residents and others who said its elevated bulk blocked views of the water.
A nearby utility building was added to hold employee lockers, a break room and other facilities previously planned for the ticket building.
The main building, which stands in the center of what had been a vehicle staging area, is clad in stone and equipped with public restrooms, a waiting area with bench seating and five ticket windows, including one that is accessible to wheelchairs.
The building was expected to cost $32 million when construction began in the fall of 2024, but has risen to $37 million with change orders, according to a financial report presented Tuesday by chief operating officer Mark Amundsen.
The project’s history dates back to 2013, when the authority first began planning a comprehensive overhaul of the entire Woods Hole terminal.
After four years of design work and permitting, a temporary building with ticket windows, restrooms and a waiting area opened in late 2017.
Early the next year, the old waterfront building was demolished to make way for a third ferry slip, part of the $60 million waterside phase of the terminal reconfiguration.
The new terminal building and redesigned vehicle areas represent the second phase of the project, with the third and last phase — chiefly landscaping and other site work — expected to begin this fall.
Mr. Amundsen cautioned that travelers will find a drastically different circulation pattern at the Woods Hole terminal, and will need to watch for new signs pointing the way.
“There’s a lot of signage … because it’s going to be a complete change in direction for our traveling public, getting off the buses, going into the ticketing,” he said.
More changes will come after the summer when phase three begins, including the removal of the temporary ticket building to make way for bicycle and ride-share parking.
Mr. Kryska said the Steamship Authority would hold a public conversation on the project at the Woods Hole Community Hall, June 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Among other business Tuesday, the board heard legislative updates from the Steamship Authority’s lobbyists on Beacon Hill and in Washington, D.C., and a report from SSA grant coordinator Caroline Muldoon.
The Steamship Authority receives about $10 million a year in federal funding for preventive maintenance and capital planning, Ms. Muldoon said, with the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration each contributing about $5 million.
The federal funds have helped support the conversion of the M/V Barnstable and M/V Aquinnah from oil field vessels to SSA freighters and the replacement of vehicle transfer bridges in Vineyard Haven and Nantucket.
Because the federal money is only provided when eligible work is being done, Ms. Muldoon said, the Steamship Authority has already planned how to use it over the next five years.
Transit administration grants will fund the annual dry dock and repair program for ferries, the replacement of two diesel buses with electric buses, the purchase of four new rescue boats, a new wastewater pump out system at the Hyannis terminal and the replacement of traffic booths at terminals, she said.
Federal highway funds will support the next phases of slip work at the Vineyard Haven terminal, repairs at the Fairhaven maintenance terminal and continuing improvements at the Woods Hole terminal, Ms. Muldoon said.
The state also makes transportation grants available, she said, including funds recently used to replace maintenance vehicles in Fairhaven.
Operations and communications center manager Joseph Russas reported on ferry staffing.
“Marine operations is fully staffed across the board on all vessel positions, with additional personnel available,” Mr. Russas said.
The Steamship Authority requires 243 marine positions for its summer schedule and has 260 active employees for those jobs, he said.
“Three employees are currently in training [and] we have 12 on-call personnel available to assist with vacancies, peak demand periods, and unexpected absences,” Mr. Russas said.
“Currently, we have 30 rostered captains; we need 27 for the summer schedule. We have 29 rostered pilots [of] 26 that are required,” he said.
Below decks, the engineering chiefs and oilers are also staffed above required levels, Mr. Russas said.
During the public comment period of Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Amundsen responded to a question about the lower-emission fuel that was used last year in the M/V Island Home.
The renewable diesel product, known as RD-99, is no longer available in the Steamship Authority’s delivery area, Mr. Amundsen said.
Last year’s pilot program was possible because a Rhode Island supplier could provide the fuel, but that company no longer offers RD-99 and the closest source now is in New York, making delivery costs prohibitive, he said.
This article appears in June 19, 2026.
Any map available of the new directions around the terminal?
37 million dollar restrooms……..
Exactly my thought. From the article “The main building, which stands in the center of what had been a vehicle staging area, is clad in stone and equipped with public restrooms, a waiting area with bench seating and five ticket windows, including one that is accessible to wheelchairs.”
Let me get this straight, restrooms, benches and five windows. That’s it? There’s got to be more to it than that, but unfortunately that may not be the case.
5 ticket windows is 4 too many
this ferry system, is TOTALLY UNSUSTAINABLE. do you think people are going to dish up $4-500 to come here? our tourism industry is doomed.
Tourism is doomed? Daytrippers will still come and buy a t-shirt and an ice cream, and not for your $4-500. Maybe the middle class is being squeezed out but the ultra-wealthy are filling the void. The island is now for the wealthy, and they can afford the ferry cost and all of the other higher costs of visiting here. In OB, Red Cat and MV Chowder have moved and gone upscale, and the old Lobsterville and Dos Mas have changed formats and are catering to those with bigger budgets. It’s sad in a way, but the stores and chefs are going where the money is.
It’s not worth taking a car over unless you’re going to MV for over a week. Used to cost only $90 RT. Luckily I now live on the Cape so I either can bike down or take the Island Queen for a day trip. There used to be parking near Woods Hole for the ferry bu no longer!
Does anyone else wonder why $5 million in change orders were made? Does that seem like sloppy planning? What were the changes? More transparency would be appreciated. Did the paper ask for those change orders?
They found plenty of old building foundations, boulders and other things buried underground is just one major item
It would be good to see a list of the change orders, but there were many articles in the news, some covering things like a unknown huge rock!
The change orders have been well documented and reported on during the entire construction phase. I have my issues with the SSA, but uninformed comments like this just feel like easy cheap shots.
I used to be able to have a sandwich at Pie-in-the-Sky and watch for my boat to come in.
We all used to come around the corner at the top of the hill and be thrilled by the sight of the ferries in their slips. All charm has been removed. Needlessly.
There’s still plenty of charm. The drama queens are out in force today.
Absolutely right, Sarah.
Especially after, say, a long bus ride from NYC with multiple changes—or, say, a long day traveling to Logan, then getting the bus to WH and finally getting near home—the boats and the harbor were such a sight for sore eyes.
No longer!!
Our views—literally and figuratively—have been trashed by this ugly rock pile that says zero about Cape Cod and resemnbles a prison more than anything else.
Truly, a candidate for a “design disaster of the month” award.
A huge waste of money.
Restrooms, ticket windows, and benches—Jeez, I think the current “temporary” building has those . . .
But probably the views from the temporary building are better.
Really wish all the naysayers would at least give this a chance and hold judgement until completion…
Suspect many will be favorably surprised once the new parking and transit lanes, landscape etc are in place
Honestly, crabbing about the lack of view from your windshield seems a bit picayune. You can get out and walk to the dock.
Pretty sure the Steamship wants this to succeed as much as we do.
A complete waste of money that we will all be paying for for decades to come.
OK, I took a ferry out on Monday am. I went to Pie in the Sky for a wrap and watched my ferry dock and the cars roll off from there. Although I do strongly disagree with the SSA building this in the first place for so much money. Not needed. I never stood in a line at the “temporary” ticket office. Plus now eTickets are being used by so many.
There is a remarkable opportunity for the state audit and further inspector General to truly figure out how and why $37 million vanished into a Stone box.
Well. Gates down and you can peek in through the glass. I’m so sorry folks but this warrants a lawsuit or some action of holding those responsible. Just wait until you see the “bench seating” that probably cost $500,000 in custom wood working. It’s literally the ticket office we have, but with $30,000,000 of glass, stone, stainless steel and ummm… a lousy vending machine and ATM. I kid you not, the architecture firm who designed this had fun playing with our money. When you’re getting off the Palmer bus and it’s a downpour, and huddling inside this stone and glass box with seating for I’d guess 30 people, and then you’re walking soaked to huddle under inverted glass awnings hahaha that do nothing just remember – we did this to ourselves.
I hate the terminal as much as the next guy. And the cost. But the country is burning to the ground. What you can see, or not see, from Pie in the Sky while you wait for your boat to MARTHA’S VINEYARD doesn’t even make the list. Please spare us the entitlement.
It’s time for a bridge, just do it!
Last week we came off a big boat in our car and we directed “RIGHT” which means we we being sent out past the ticket shack. But when we got there, ALL THREE lanes were blocked – the truck parking lane, the vehicle entry lane, and the vehicle exit lane (by an SSA parking lot bus trying to reach it’s discharge point. So we had to turn left and thread our way through three other parked buses and lots of confused passengers with their luggage to get to Railroad St so we could leave the SSA property.
All of this because the person directing cars off the boat could not see that the ticket booth are was completely grid-locked.
This building has created a massive safety problem in the lot because it blocks SSA employees views of everything that is happening in the lot.
I agree it’s a giant zit. Being able to see that traffic has been cleared out to and from the ferries and incase emergency vehicles need to get to the ferry and then away to a hospital should have been a priority. Everything is built around pretty. Efficiency and easy access for everyone including handicap and disabled people should have been most important.
Will there be standby allowed once again?
Commenters who pooh-pooh the importance of beautiful views to locals and visitors alike obviously are oblivious to the the attraction of Woods Hole and the Vineyard—that is, why people pay $$$$$ to come here and experience this special area. The experience used to start in WH. Shame.
We visit the island 2 weeks every July. I’m constantly amazed at how miserable islanders always seem to be. Does anything make them happy?
Kim, as someone who’s lived on Martha’s Vineyard for many decades, I hate to admit it, but your comment struck a chord with me. I think that, over the years, some of us who call the Island home year-round have developed a bit of a sense of entitlement. Too often we’re quick to criticize and assume the worst before something has even had a chance to prove itself.
The one thing I’m uncomfortable with is the $37 million price tag. That’s a lot of money, and I think it’s fair to question the cost. Beyond that, I’m going to reserve judgment until I’ve actually experienced the new terminal.
The Steamship Authority has already said that the traffic flow and routing will be completely different once the terminal is fully operational. If that’s the case, doesn’t it make sense to see how it actually functions before declaring it a failure?
If it turns out to be inefficient, poorly designed, or creates new traffic problems, I’ll be among the first to say so.
I’d rather judge the finished product than my expectations of it.
after arriving at the ferry, either from great distances, and not so, and arriving in PLENTY of time, my anger erupts when i am told by the attendant, to go ride around, you are too early to be here…ya, thats just what i want to do, after a overnight trip, go ride around, go somewhere else. come back in a half hour. i am sure the residents of woods hole like people who are “just riding around” their neighborhoods, because the attendant told them do so….standby worked. it didnt hurt anyone.
I thought it was a ballroom bunker.
A hideous monument to incompetence!
This Architect -and the others commenting here- know an over-designed, overly expensive exercise in hubris when we see it.
But the Architects were working for the Authority, therefore it was really their lack of good sense and control
of the project utility, scope, and expense that is the problem.