In response to the Gazette article titled Woods Hole Terminal Building Opens at Last, while we understand the need for a waiting area for people who may need to wait to board a ferry or purchase tickets in-person, we don’t agree with the ticket and utility buildings that are over-designed and poorly placed. The architect and Steamship Authority management failed to read the room in terms of basic design needs.

We are New Englanders — we do not need multi-million dollar glass awnings, (yes, the awnings with the maps on them above the walkway onto the ferry cost a whopping $4.8 million) custom granite, nor five ticket windows in a modern-day world of digital ticket purchasing.

The dock workers have expressed that the placement of this building is making their job that much harder. We cringe when we hear that the project came in “under budget” at $37 million from the original $32 million. As stated in the article, the total for this ongoing budget will be at least $70 million. The continuing project has at least $9.8 million yet to come in land/hardscaping. The poor placement will be talked about for years, if not decades, to come. And the unsolved traffic pattern issues are causing continued chaos, danger and long traffic build-ups for travelers and residents alike to suffer through.

As important to this discussion, is the negative effect the size and placement of these buildings has had on the residents of Woods Hole. The iconic view is gone forever, the lack of an effective traffic plan causes daily back-ups, the lighting in the employee parking lot causes light pollution and pedestrians and bicyclists risk immense danger trying to cross walkways as huge trucks rumble off the ferries and up the narrow Railroad Road. What a selfish luxury to be a resident or visitor of Martha’s Vineyard and not consider the devastating effect of these two buildings on our sister port and its citizens. They are not our adversaries, they are our partners and we are in this together.

It’s time to start respecting and responding to the needs of all of the public that the SSA serves. We can and must do better.

Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group: Amy Cody, Margaret Hannemann, Alysha Norbury, Beth O’Connor, Nathaniel Trumbull.