Work began at the Vineyard Haven Steamship Authority terminal Wednesday morning to reconfigure the passenger pickup and drop-off area and remove the shingled passenger shelter over the sidewalk along Water Street.
Workers placed chainlink fencing and orange traffic cones around the work area, effectively blocking the sidewalk and eliminating parking.
Wayne Lamson, SSA General Manager, told The Times the SSA has a good contractor, and he expects the work to take no more than a few weeks. Mr. Lamson said work near the employee parking area on the south side of the lot bordering the Black Dog campus should be completed by the weekend. In the meantime, he said, employees are parking on the north end.
Mr. Lamson said passenger pickup and drop-off has been moved to the interior of the lot, to standby lanes 2 and 3. Truck drivers who previously arrived early to get on standby are being allowed to call in for standby so they will not arrive at the lot until they are called, to free up more space, he said.
Mr. Lamson said the SSA will try to minimize the confusion with better signage. “We apologize for any inconvenience and the appearance,” he said.
The plan calls for the sidewalk along Water Street to be moved closer to the street, eliminating the three parking spaces that were next to the right travel lane of Water Street. The shelter will not be replaced.
Eliminating the outside temporary parking spots will create space to add a second traffic lane between the angled parking spots inside the lot.
The changes are designed to alleviate traffic backups during ferry arrival and departure times. Upcoming changes also include an additional ticket booth for vehicle drivers to check in and a redesign of the pickup and drop-off areas.