Heads up, commuters: Mukilteo-Clinton ferry disruptions start next week

The new Mukilteo Ferry dock opened five years ago this week, but it already needs some repairs. And that means service disruptions during the first two months of 2026.

Midday sailings between Mukilteo and Clinton will be canceled for nine, non-consecutive, days in January and February.

The first shutdown will be next Tuesday morning, January 6, between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Crews will repair Mukilteo Ferry dock

With the dock being so new, what needs to be repaired?

Washington State Ferries (WSF) spokesperson Diane Rhodes said a hard landing damaged one of the wing walls, and it needs to be replaced.

“A wing wall is navigational and a kind of ferry alignment structure,” she said. “It’s a berthing structure that’s designed to absorb impact when a ferry lands, and hold the ferry in place while it is in the dock.”

The wing wall was knocked out of place a few years ago, and the state is just getting to repairs now.

“In order to position that and get it back into place, we need to drive pilings deeper into the sea floor to make it more resilient for the future,” Rhodes said.

Since the wing-wall is a vital navigation tool, ferry service needs to be shut down during the work.

“We will allow the morning commute to take place. After the morning commute, we’ll bring that crane in. We’ll do some work for a couple of hours, and then pull that crane back out of place and be back ready for the early evening, afternoon commute,” Rhodes explained.

Three closures next week

All the dates for the midday closures can be found here. But there will be three next week. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. There will also be nighttime work during two upcoming weekends.

“The last two weeks of January and then a week in the middle of February, we will do late-night work, so some of the late-night schedules will be adjusted during those nights,” Rhodes said.

There will be no pile-driving during the nighttime closures. Ferry workers are handing out pamphlets at the terminals to let customers know of the closures.

There could be weather delays for this midday work. Foggy conditions will cause problems. Marine mammal spotters will be watching the pile driving, looking for any endangered species that might be close by.

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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