PORT TOWNSEND — The state Department of Transportation has launched a public survey in an attempt to settle a dispute over temporary ferry service during the six weeks the Hood Canal Bridge is severed a year from now.

The survey, which can be found on the bridge Internet site, www.hoodcanalbridge.org, runs until June 6, at which time state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and her aides will assess the results and make a final decision, bridge Project Manager Becky Hixson said.

The survey asks North Olympic Peninsula residents to choose between two passenger-ferry options during east-half replacement of the floating bridge in May and June 2009:

A passenger ferry between South Point south of the bridge in East Jefferson County and Lofall on the Kitsap Peninsula, or a ferry transporting passengers from Port Ludlow to Kingston.

The South Point-Lofall ferry option would require motorists to park at a temporary lot at the Shine Quarry off state Highway 104, then take a shuttle bus to the temporary ferry dock at South Point.

On the Lofall side, a shuttle could be taken to the Kingston ferry or other Kitsap County destinations.