Ferry commuters: Mind the fence work

Years of plant overgrowth and the slow disintegration of a fence will fixed this week at the Humphrey Road parking lot in Clinton.

But don’t worry: The work won’t prevent commuters from parking their cars, at least not during the week.

The Port of South Whidbey owns the parking lot and will pay for the repairs, which are expected to cost about $12,000. Patty’s Parking leases the lot from the Port, and is not responsible for the lot’s bigger fixes.

At a Port meeting Feb. 25, the contractor’s schedule for the fencing reconstruction project was set to begin Thursday. McBride Fencing of Clinton will remove the fence, make post repairs and install new fencing and privacy slat replacement along the north side of the lot — which is the side furthest from the ferry — on Thursday.

Port manager Ed Field said the first portion of work is not expected to interfere with normal parking, but work on Saturday and Sunday will impact where commuters can park. On those two days, the second phase of fencing repair will be conducted on the south side of the lot. Cars will not be able to park along the south side through the weekend due to the proximity of the fence to the parking area.

The lot, which is located just above the Clinton ferry landing, has capacity for several hundred cars, so parking should not be affected.

To avoid having their cars accidentally damaged by the work, Field recommended that commuters not to park on the south side of the lot, which is closest to the ferry.

“We’re hoping to be done with any parking impact work by the end of Sunday,” Field said.

McBride Fencing will repair the fence poles, many of which were damaged or bent by vehicles before wheel stops were installed. New fencing and slat replacement are also scheduled.

Field notified neighboring residents on Tuesday to advise them of the work, and to explain the changes that will impact the overgrown landscape. He said the Port will remove as few shrubs as possible.

“They’ll take as little as they need to get the old fence out of there,” he said. “It’ll look a lot nicer with the new fence and slats.”

Jennifer Conway / staff photo

Fence repair is scheduled to take place this week at the Humphrey Road parking lot in Clinton. The north side repairs will take place Thursday, and south side repairs are set for Saturday and Sunday.

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