There was a mixed reaction to the proposed redesign of Langdale ferry terminal as BC Ferries engaged travellers this week through three public open houses.
Ferry reps spoke with passengers at the terminal and on the Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, showing preliminary plans, answering questions and taking feedback from customers.
Coast Reporter met up with representatives on Tuesday evening at the Langdale terminal to see what people have said so far.
"We've had a mixture of responses," said Joanne Doyle, BC Ferries manager of master planning. "A lot of people have been receptive to the plan and they're really interested in eliminating the merging traffic conflicts that we currently see between the parking lot and the exit lanes, which has been great."
Some negative comments were registered as well, including those from a contingent of Smith Road residents who were concerned about the new Smith Road intersection proposed in the plan.
Doyle called their comments "really great feedback."
"Positive or negative comments coming in, they are all really helpful," she said.
BC Ferries is proposing construction of a second, two-level loading facility that would become the main loading dock, an overhead walkway to separate foot passengers from vehicle traffic, a new administration building beside the parking lot to make it more accessible, a dedicated traffic loop to keep parking lot vehicles separate from vehicles exiting the ferry, a larger holding area for cars waiting to board the ferry and new toll booths for the possibility of fare collection on the Langdale side in the future.
BC Ferries project manager Aaron Hahn said building a new floating berth is more cost effective than trying to make the existing second berth into a two-storey structure.
"You would have to demolish most of it, if not all of it, anyway. And then you would still have that 90-degree turn, which is an option that's not as efficient," Hahn said.
While the ferry corporation is considering what's most cost effective, they're not releasing any cost estimates for the proposed redesign.
"Truthfully, we are still developing schedules, timelines, budgets. Eventually they will become public," Hahn said.
The most common question Doyle heard while gathering feedback was "when is this going to happen?"
"Really this is just a proposed concept plan that we are looking to get feedback on it's a 20- to 30-year plan," Doyle said. "It's not something that's going to happen right away, but we're trying to look at the future needs of the terminal based on the information that we've gained on different functional requirements from different stakeholders that we've consulted with."
