Boat Line Board Goes Forward with Oak Bluffs Wharf Project

By JAMES KINSELLA

Revised plans for the reconstruction of the Oak Bluffs Steamship
Authority terminal have won the backing of Vineyard SSA governor Marc
Hanover.

"I think it looks great," said Mr. Hanover, a resident
of Oak Bluffs as well as chairman of the boat line board, of the $10
million proposal to rebuild the wharf near the North Bluff section of
downtown. At the monthly boat line meeting in Woods Hole yesterday, Mr.
Hanover said the new terminal will be a welcome enhancement.

SSA governors voted 4-0 to authorize management to pursue the new
plan, a less expensive approach than the $12 million to $13 million
original proposal. Falmouth governor Robert Marshall did not attend the
meeting. The boat line still needs to get approval from Oak Bluffs
officials and arrange to lease the old town hall for new terminal space.

The latest version of the plan includes enlarged queuing areas for
foot passengers and bicyclists, separated queuing areas for vehicles
along Seaview avenue north and south of Oak Bluffs avenue, plantings to
better secure the sea wall, and a longer boat loading ramp to better
accommodate large trucks.

In other action yesterday, boat line governors scheduled public
hearings on a proposal by Hy-Line, a private Hyannis-based company, to
introduce year-round fast ferry service between Hyannis and Oak Bluffs.
The hearings are set for March 7 at the Oak Bluffs School and again on
March 8 at the SSA terminal in Hyannis. Both will begin at 5:30 p.m.

SSA governors also voted 4-0 to spend $1.5 million to put new
engines in the fast ferry Flying Cloud at the end of its 2005 season. In
the next breath they voted without dissent to authorize management to
seek proposals for a vessel to replace the Flying Cloud before the 2007
season.

A large chunk of the meeting was taken up with the presentation and
discussion of the Oak Bluffs terminal reconstruction project.

The terminal currently lacks adequate vehicle staging areas, forces
some passengers to be dropped off or picked up in the middle of Seaview
avenue, and moves passengers to and from the boats along a wooden
walkway in disrepair and out of compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

But earlier versions of the plan sparked concerns from the town
conservation and parks commissions. A number of town residents and
officials also faulted the SSA for failing to get more public comment
before drawing up a plan.

At the meeting yesterday, Steve Cecil of the Cecil Group presented
the revised proposal. The new plan is $2 million to $3 million less
costly than the original, largely because the boat line would lease
terminal office space from the town rather than build a new terminal
office. Further description of the plan was provided in a staff summary
written by Carl R. Walker, director of engineering for the boat line.

Key elements include:

* Creation of better-organized queuing areas on land north and
south of the existing ticket office, running approximately from Pasque
avenue south to Lake avenue. The areas would be separated from the flow
of traffic on Seaview avenue by traffic islands. The area south of the
current terminal office would be used for passenger pick-up and
drop-off. The area north of the terminal would be used as a new staging
area.

* Demolition of the existing terminal office and of the old
town comfort station on the east side of Seaview avenue.

* A new concrete wall to be built along the slope between
Seaview avenue and the beach. Native plantings would be placed along the
slope.

* Construction of a 2,000-square-foot kiosk near the existing
terminal office site for an attendant and for machines to dispense
tickets. (The main ticket office would be across the street.)

* Construction of a new pedestrian walkway along the south side
of the existing pier. The walkway will be 14 feet wide and built using
12-inch diameter concrete-filled steel pilings. A new passenger loading
platform and ADA-compliant access ramp will be built at the east end of
the walkway.

* Expansion of available space on the existing pier. Building
the new pedestrian walkway will create enough room on the pier for a
bicycle lane, two vehicle staging lanes, and an exit lane.

* Replacement of the existing 30-foot transfer bridge -
the ramp used by vehicles to get onto and off the ferries - with a
50-foot transfer bridge. The new bridge will reduce the steepness of the
angle during high and low tides, which will allow longer trucks to use
the pier.

* Replacement of the deteriorating dolphins at the seaward
entrance to the pier.

The project, Mr. Walker said, can be pursued in two or three phases
as funding becomes available.

Barnstable governor Robert O'Brien noted that the project
design is based on the availability of the old town hall, now home to
the Oak Bluffs police department. Mr. Cecil replied that limited space
exists on the east side of Seaview avenue for a terminal building, but
that the building would have to be two stories tall.

New Bedford governor David Oliveira wondered if the redesign would
allow for the placement of picnic tables along the seaward slope where
people could watch the boat come in. Mr. Hanover said it is a
possibility.

About $7 million of the project cost is for construction and
reconstruction at the pier, with $3 million for site work on the land
side of the terminal.

SSA governors had no comment on another Oak Bluffs initiative: the
proposal by Hy-Line to operate a year-round fast ferry between Hyannis
and the Cottage City. The board likely will vote on the plan next month,
following public hearings and a meeting between Hy-Line and SSA
management.

Murray Scudder, one of Hy-Line's owners, gave a presentation
to make a case for the proposed service.

Hy-Line now operates a conventional ferry seasonally on the route.
(There is no SSA service, seasonal or year-round, between the two
towns.) Mr. Scudder said passenger traffic has been falling in recent
years, and the fast ferry is seen as a way to reverse the trend.

Mr. Scudder said people want to travel more quickly than in the
past. He also said the service is expected to draw people from the mid
and lower Cape who now find it too cumbersome to travel to the Vineyard,
and give the Vineyard better access to the educational, medical and work
opportunities offered by Hyannis, the hub of the Cape.

"As part of the public-private partnership created by the
legislature, we believe that a convenient and reliable year-round
transportation option is in the public interest and, as such, we
respectfully ask the authority's approval of this request,"
Mr. Scudder wrote in his proposal.

After the meeting, Mr. Scudder said discussions about the proposal
with people from Oak Bluffs and Hyannis have been very positive.

Also yesterday SSA governors gave management the green light to
replace the troubled engines on the Flying Cloud, and to solicit
proposals for vessel replacement before the 2007 season.

The Paxman engines will be replaced with Detroit diesel engines,
which are expected to improve reliability and also make the vessel
salable. Warranty on the Paxman engines is now costing $30,000 a month.

As for replacing the Flying Cloud, SSA general manager Wayne Lamson
said the boat line will look for a vessel that is suitable for the
Hyannis-Nantucket run.