Marina Dock Replacement Plan for Shilshole

Commission to Consider Proposed 7-Year Construction to Improve Sailing Center/Vessel Slips

Improvements could be coming to Shilshole Bay Marina, the Pacific Northwest's premier sailing center, but not too fast. Port of Seattle staff has completed and issued a final supplemental environmental impact statement outlining preferred alternatives for a dock replacement and moorage expansion project with a seven-year construction timeline to ease disruption to marina users.

The Port of Seattle Commission is expected to review a complete package of staff-recommended preferred alternatives at its March 13 meeting. Preliminary design and construction cost estimates for the preferred alternative will be developed this spring, with a final design and construction cost estimate going to the Port Commission for funding authorization by the end of summer.

Virtually all of the marina's 23 floating docks are between 30 and 40 years old and are held in place by old wooden pilings. The proposed replacement project would mean 21 new docks for the marina, and replacing more than 1,000 creosote-treated wooden piles with piles manufactured from alternative materials that would not pose a pollution threat.

There are currently about 1,500 slips in the marina, and General Manager Darlene Robertson said that number could change somewhat under a new moorage configuration.

"We will be reconfiguring the sizes of moorage slips available to accommodate the size of vessels we typically see today as well as those of the future," she said. "We want to provide more diversity in the sizes of slips available."

When the marina's slips were built four decades ago, most were built to accommodate vessels 30 feet and under. Today, Robertson said, vessels are longer and wider and require more room for moorage and maneuvering.

"As the marina will be built to last another 30 to 50 years, we want to ensure that we are able to accommodate customers' vessels," she said.

Improvements are also recommended for the marina's north end, including an expansion of the sailing center, which accommodates small non-motorized sailing vessels. Under the preferred alternative, three or four new sailing events could be held, each with about 300 sailing boats, Also the size of sailing classes could be increased from the current limit of about 30 students to as high as 90 students.

"We recognize the tremendous asset that the north-end sailing center is to the community, and public comment we have received only strengthened our feelings," Robertson said. "By making the proposed improvements to the sailing center, we will triple the capacity for students interested in learning safe sailing techniques, and ensure the center's ability to serve in this capacity for decades to come."

Robertson said Port staff recommends the entire project be conducted on a seven-year timeframe. Staff looked at several construction schedules, from an intensive 16-month timeframe that would have relocated tenants from four docks at a time and required continuous work in two separate locations, to the preferred seven-year construction schedule that will accomplish dock replacement at a rate of three docks per year, one dock at a time

"While we could have completed this much-needed upgrade in a shorter period of time, we felt it would have been far too disruptive to our customers," she said. "This seven-year project span helps minimize temporary relocation requirements for moorage customers."

Robertson said construction could start as soon as the fall of 2004, pending Commission approval. Early cost estimates for the dock replacement and moorage expansion project are in the $40 million range.

"Shilshole Bay Marina is a priceless asset to our region and this work will ensure it remains an excellent facility for decades to come," Robertson said.