Small Town News

Keller ferry out of service

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The state Dept. of Transportation took the Keller ferry out of service Thursday after finding a hole in the hull.

The action will affect anyone who needs to cross Lake Roosevelt on SR-21 between Keller and Wilbur, including students who commute to Wilbur daily to attend seventh through 12th grades. They now face a 50-mile bus ride.

DOT spokesman Al Gilson said the hole was discovered during work being done on the interior of the hull after a U.S. Coast Guard inspector last spring recommended removing rust. In the process a "pinhole" leak was discovered, Gilson said.

The Coast Guard inspects the 61-year-old boat every five years.

Gilson said that, after moving the boat to a drydock at Grand Coulee Dam, DOT will patch the hull and put the Martha S. back in service.

"We do not know when that will be," he said.

Colville Business Council Chairman Michael Finley said Friday the suspension "is ample evidence that our communities need a new ferry."

"The Colville Tribes, along with members of the state Legislature, school officials, and county commissioners, have been working hard to get a new ferry at Keller," Finley said, and $10 million had been earmarked for the project for several years, only to be held up over design disputes. In the current state fiscal climate, that was knocked down to $1 million for repairs, he said.

The Martha S. was built at Coulee Dam and launched on Lake Roosevelt, bound for the Keller Ferry crossing, on Sept..9, 1948, the tribal press release said. It has been in operation there for more than 60 years. It operates 18 hours a day, seven days a week. It's estimated that at least 190 vehicles cross on the ferry every day, and more than double that in the summer. Approximately 70,000 'vehicles travel on the Keller Ferry each year.

"The Martha S. has made more than four million crossings since it was commissioned as our ferry," Finley said. "Our community members should not be forced to rely on an aged and dangerous vessel for this crossing, which can be very rough in bad weather. We hope state lawmakers will recognize that the need for a new Keller Ferry is now."



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© 2010 The Star Grand Coulee, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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