Edmonds /Kingston Ferry (Tacoma, Port Townsend: home, ferries, car)

[marianne1952]

Does anyone know if waiting time for the Edmonds / Kingston Ferry is better after a certain time on fridays? Would waiting till 7pm be any less nighmarish?
What about monday mornings Kingston Edmonds? Are there waiting times ? How long?
When I visited the other weekend at 315 pm there was a line up and sign said "one hour waiting time" to cross from Edmonds to Kingston.
Any info appreciated!

[the dufferz]

best idea I can give is to have you keep an eye on the ferry web site:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/cameras/

On the left side under Commuter Center find the link to "wait times"

for example, as of tonight at 8:00 this is what is says:

Wait Time
Currently 60 minute advance arrival is recommended for vehicle traffic

[jabm67]

The Friday afternoon delays in Edmonds vary a lot with the seasons. We make that trip reasonably often because one set of in-laws are in Port Townsend. On the other hand, when we go we have kids in the car, which means we avoid long in-car waits more or less at all costs.

In the summers, if we're taking that ferry on a Friday, we make sure we're in line before 3PM. I don't know about later on Friday evenings; if we can't get out before 3, then we stay home and catch an early Saturday morning ferry instead. (That's easy for us ... the terminal is 20 minutes by car from our house, plus a few minutes to get coffee and donuts en route.) Winters aren't so bad, but I don't think we've tried a winter Friday evening in a long time.

Our return trips are always on Sunday afternoon. We leave Port T by noon at latest and wait in the line for an hour or two on the Kingston side. I've never tried the Kingston side on a Monday morning.

[marianne1952]

Wait in line for an hour or 2???? Man you Washingtonians have patience!!!!
Thanks for info!

[psprague]

I make the edmonds kingston trip once a week, just about every week. The Memorial to Labor day period is the busiest, with Friday afternoon from 4 to 7 the worst on the Edmonds side and Sunday afternoon from 3 on from the Kingston side. Waits can be 2 to 3 boats (about an hour per boat). If its a holiday weekend or there is some festival going on it gets worse. In Feburary though, the boats may be half full on most runs.

I deal with it by trying to avoid it by going at alternate times but if thats not possible, bring a book and settle in for the wait. Going around via the narrows is really not an option, if the ferries are busy, the traffic to Tacoma is worse.

The really interesting thing is going to happen when the Hood Canal bridge shuts down.

[LadyLara]

Originally Posted by psprague

The really interesting thing is going to happen when the Hood Canal bridge shuts down.

yes! that is going to make things verrrrrrrrrrry interesting!

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr1...nalbridgeeast/