“Three days of sunshine earlier this week gave construction workers the break they needed to put some finishing touches on the new half of the Clinton ferry dock.Pavers spread and rolled more than 9 inches of asphalt over the top of the dock, which is expected to open to traffic next week. Kurt Grant, construction manager for MKB Constructors, said ferry riders will have at least partial access to the dock as his crew continues to work on a glass-covered pedestrian walkway and the new ferry terminal office building and pedestrian waiting room. Those facilities should be ready for use by mid-July.When the paving is finished, the entire dock will be open to park ferry traffic. MKB workers expected to paint lane and traffic striping on the new dock by this weekend. They installed steel transition plates between new dock and the old half Tuesday, which will allow cars to cross between sides.It could be another month or two before the new section of the dock is fully functional. MKB’s contract ends in June, but Grant said recent change orders could push the end of the project into July. Ferries will begin docking in the new south slip on selected runs next week, but Grant said Washington State Ferries will not use the slip full-time until all construction work is finished.State Ferries has not yet gone out to bid on the second half of the dock project. Agency engineers are in the process of finishing the design and engineering phase. In all, the ferry system expects to pay about $27 million for the dock project. It contracted with MKB for about $12 million for the first phase of the dock project. WSF has estimated that the project will be finished by the summer of 2002.”