Only minor tweaks are being made to a plan for ferry service during the winter berth closures at Westview and Little River terminals. Construction is already underway at Westview, but the ferry corporation will need to close the Powell River and Comox berths temporarily to complete the project.
BC Ferries hosted information sessions in Powell River, Comox Valley and on Texada Island last week to present the finalized plans of the terminal upgrades and alternative service plans for January 12 to March 9, 2014. Approximately 70 people attended the Wednesday, August 14 session at the Powell River Town Centre Hotel.
Wildwood resident Ray Peters was one of the participants at the meeting. He said he was concerned about how the ferry schedule would be changed.
“As long as they don’t reduce the number of sailings,” said Peters. “I’m fortunate I need to go to Vancouver for most of my appointments, but some people here have to go to the cancer clinic in Victoria.”
Peters commented that he thought the majority of seniors at the meeting were concerned about how the changes would affect their ability to make it to medical appointments.
“I don’t know how many people are going to the island for doctors appointments every day, but it’s got to be quite a few,” he said.
BC Ferries representatives presented their updated plan, but it did not include any radical departures from the plan they presented last winter.
Between January 12 and February 7 both berths will be closed, so the ferry corporation will route ships between Powell River and Vancouver Island from Saltery Bay to Departure Bay using the Island Sky, which normally services the Saltery-Bay-to-Earls-Cove route. The sailing will last three hours. The ferry corporation adjusted the sailing times by five minutes to make it easier for people coming from Texada to make the sailing to Vancouver Island.
For the remaining four and a half weeks, the Island Sky will sail from Saltery Bay to Little River, with the home port in Little River. The trip is expected to take two hours and 20 minutes.
The North Island Princess, the regular vessel on the Texada-Powell River route, will sail between Blubber Bay and Saltery Bay with a sailing time of two-hours 15 minutes.
A water taxi service will run several times throughout the day between Westview and the Texada Boat Club during the closures for students and others who commute to work.
A number of shuttle services are being set up to help accommodate passengers, though the ferry corporation is still finalizing plans with service providers. A service will run from Westview terminal to Saltery Bay free of change during the period of the Westview closure.
One round-trip flight per day will run between the airports at Powell River and Comox from January 12 to February 7. It will leave Powell River in the morning and return in the late afternoon. Half of the plane’s capacity will be reserved for people with medical appointments and the other half on a first-come first-served basis. The cost for the flight will be the equivalent to a walk-on passenger’s fare. During the same time period, a shuttle service will be operated between the Comox airport and the Comox Valley and Campbell River.
The contract is out for bid, but the last time the ferry corporation required setting up a flight service between the cities, Pacific Coastal Airlines provided service with a 30-passenger plane.
Chris Shewchuk, customer relations advisor for BC Ferries, was one of five representatives at the meeting. “That worked really well,” he said Shewchuk. He added that he expects plans to be finalized soon.
BC Ferries representatives said the corporation is currently looking for companies to provide the shuttle and air services and assured the public that they will make sure that the shuttle services have enough space for people needing the service. Shewchuck encouraged the public to phone the company with any concerns they have about the project (1.877.222.1949).
Readers can find more information about sailing times at the BC Ferries website (www.bcferries.com) and another public information session is planned for the late fall.
