PORT TOWNSEND — Navy personnel in the area heavily depend on ferries and the Hood Canal Bridge to commute to and from bases on Whidbey Island, Indian Island and in Kitsap County, the region’s commander said Monday.
So the reduction in ferry service to Whidbey Island as well as next year’s six-week Hood Canal Bridge closure has the Navy concerned.
“We have a lot of folks on both sides who work on the other side,” said Rear Adm. James Symonds, addressing more than 50 attending the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce weekly luncheon at Fort Worden State Park Commons.
“We have folks who travel from the Peninsula up to Whidbey almost every day.”
The Navy’s concern is not just the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry which connects Whidbey Island with the North Olympic Peninsula.
“It’s the fleet in general,” said Symonds.
