Steamship Authority receives $2.5 million grant
Steamship Authority receives $2.5 million grant
Federal funding will support construction of Woods Hole ferry terminal building
FALMOUTH (August 8, 2019) – The Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority is pleased to report it has been awarded a $2,500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support its Woods Hole Terminal Reconstruction Project. Specifically, the funding from the Passenger Ferry Grant Program will be applied toward the cost of the project’s new terminal building.
“We are extremely grateful to the U.S. Department of Transportation for this award,” said General Manager Robert B. Davis. “As one of the only public ferry systems in the country to totally support its operations and capital costs through fare box collections, any financial assistance we can receive through our partners at the federal government helps us keep the cost of service as low as possible for our traveling public, including the island residents for whom we are proud to serve as a lifeline.
“I wish to thank U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, along with U.S. Rep. William Keating, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker for their support for this funding. Their support was vital to our application, and we look forward to putting this federal funding to good use within our community.”
“The Steamship Authority provides a vital link between the Cape Cod and the rest of mainland and the island communities of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard,” said Secretary Pollack. “This grant will help the Authority to continue to better fulfill its charter mission for decades to come.”
The Woods Hole Terminal Reconstruction Project includes a complete redesign and rebuild of the Authority’s Woods Hole terminal property. It includes performing resiliency work at the site to make the vital transportation center able to withstand the expected effects of sea level rise; increasing overall accessibility at the site; reconstructing three new ferry slips; designing and constructing a new terminal building; and designing and constructing a new storage building. Construction on the project is planned over six years, with the work constrained to the off-season so as to minimize disruption during the busy summer months. This spring, construction on the northernmost slip on the property (Slip No. 3) concluded; this fall, work on the middle slip (what is now called Slip No. 1 and will be renamed Slip No. 2) will commence.
The waterside portion of the project is projected to cost approximately $55 million, while the terminal building is projected to cost approximately $12,500,000, although a final cost estimate will be determined after a design for the structure is finalized.
For more on the terminal project: www.steamshipauthority.com/WHterminalreconstruction.
For more on the Passenger Ferry Grant Program: www.transit.dot.gov/passenger-ferry-grants.
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