Don’t get turned away at the Kingston Ferry, you need a ticket first

Don’t get caught by surprise if you’re heading up to the Sequim Lavender Festival this weekend. There are changes to how you access the ferry dock at Kingston that could ruin your return trip.

We talked about the changes to the ferry line at the start of the summer, but it’s time for a refresher.

I’m bringing this up now because the Lavender Festival will take a bunch of people through the Kingston ferry dock for the first time since the changes, and because a listener, Raymond, reached out to me about what happened last weekend.

Got to get a ticket before getting into the ferry line

He was heading home to Snohomish after a weekend in Sequim. He did not know that there is now a ticket kiosk about a mile west of the toll booth in Kingston. You are required to get a ticket at that kiosk before getting into the ferry line down to the toll booth and terminal.

He got down to the toll booth after waiting in line, and he was turned away. The toll booth operator told him to turn around and get a ticket.

By the time he did, the line approaching the new kiosk was super long. He decided to drive, instead of waiting, all the way to Bremerton, into Tacoma, and back to Snohomish. Talk about a detour and a massive time addition. To add a little context to this, Raymond entered the ferry line via a road from the west that did not pass the flashing lights. It’s just assumed that people using that road, normally locals, already know they have to drive up to the kiosk.

The Washington Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Kurt Workman told me earlier this year that the goal is to have the cars wait in line out of the downtown core of Kingston. That keeps the town from getting blocked in and keeps the idling exhaust away. It also prevents line cutting.

Workman told me yesterday that the state doesn’t keep track of how many people it has turned away, but Raymond was not the first and will not be the last.

“If folks arrive at the booth without a ticket, then they’re going to be turned back and have to go back to the end of the line and wait in line until they get a ticket and come up to the booth,” Workman said. “That’s going to be the enforcement mechanism on that.”

There is a flashing sign on SR 104 at the Barber Cutoff Road, about a mile from the kiosk, that tells drivers they need to enter the ferry line there and get a ticket, even if they don’t see cars in the line.

That’s where you need to enter. You then follow the green lights, which are triggered by space near the toll booth, to proceed. That’s how WSDOT manages the flow.

Workman hopes everyone understands what they are trying to do, even the Kingston residents who now have to drive out of town to get in line.

“We understand that that is an inconvenience, but hopefully the trade-offs of better access through town, not so many people idling in their town, better access to the businesses, hopefully all those things are a trade-off that is a positive for everyone,” Workman said.

The kiosk system operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from late May to mid-October. It runs every Saturday and Sunday year-round, and during the full weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.

Motorcycles do not need to get a ticket. Neither to people with mobility issues that would make getting a ticket difficult. People with medical passes don’t need a ticket either.

And to answer the question asked of me when I first ran the story in May, yes, the toll booth workers will turn you away. Just ask Raymond.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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