As people travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Washington Department of Transportation is warning travelers to prepare for long lines and wait times no matter where they are going or how they are getting there.
This warning includes ferry passengers; around 300,000 people are expected to take a state ferry between Wednesday and Sunday.
As of Wednesday morning at around 7 a.m., the lines to get on the Edmonds ferry were already building. Many people told KIRO 7 reporter Brooke Griffin that this is their typical route to work but they started early to beat any holiday traffic.
Dana Warr with State Ferries says the crowds will be heavy, but nowhere near the summertime travel peak, where they could see 300,000 people on the ferries in as little as three days.
“We hope to provide smooth sailing to everyone, 300,000 is a lot of people,” Warr said.
Anna Smith boarded the 7:50 a.m. Edmonds Ferry to see her mom in Sequim; she takes this ferry every Thanksgiving week. In the past, she had shown up later in the morning and regretted it.
“Sometimes on the day before Thanksgiving you can wait three hours, I’ve even waited four hours,” Smith said.
She said she won’t ever make that mistake again.
“I wanted to beat traffic beat lines all the holiday mess, I feel like usually the day before Thanksgiving you wait a couple hours,” Smith said.
Washington DOT said westbound ferries will be packed Wednesday and Thursday along with the eastbound ferries Thursday and Friday.
To deal with the demand, the ferry system is adding a midday run on the Point Defiance/Tahlequah route and an evening sailing on the Edmonds Kingston route.
No matter how long the wait is, don’t think you can cut in line without receiving a $145 fine. Troopers could be watching.
“It’s typically people being impatient, but a lot of people don’t ride the ferry and it’s not purposeful,” Warr said.
You can get real-time schedule updates along with rider information online at wsdot.wa.gov/travel/washington-state-ferries or download the app.
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