December 13, 2007
By Robin Kaminski/The Dailey Item

Years of planning to create a ferry for commuters to quickly access Boston from Lynn is inching closer to becoming a reality.

The Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council is set to make a trip to Lynn Dec. 21 to discuss the request for $750,000 in funding to finally get the project under way.

Executive Director of the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation James Cowdell said this would be the first visit to the city by the advisory council.

The meeting will take place at noon in the City Council chambers at City Hall. Council Chairman Lt. Governor Timothy Murray and several other city officials will be present at the meeting.

"It's really significant that the council is coming here and it's also the first step for the commuter ferry to become a reality," Cowdell said. "I'm really excited about it."

The plan includes a steel bulkhead and dock to be built at the end of Blossom Street extension, which runs off of the Lynnway's northbound lane next to the Keyspan natural gas tank. Parking is also part of the plan.
The waterfront area including the ramp falls under environmental protection regulations.

Cowdell said Sen. Thomas M. McGee, a major proponent of the plan, has been instrumental in moving the project along.

McGee endorsed the project in 2002 during a meeting with state transportation officials.

A total of $3.1 million is needed to make the plan a reality, which would provide commuters with a quick 16-minute ferry ride to Boston.

To help fund the project, an application requesting $750,000 for the first of three phases was previously submitted to the advisory council.

Cowdell said a vote would most likely take place at the meeting.

"The money would take care of roughly 30 to 40 percent of the project and would allow us to begin dredging and prepping the site," he said. "If the money is approved, we would begin the project in the spring."

The city of Salem's project to create a ferry to Boston was fully funded by the advisory council, including the purchase of a ferry.

Plans for a similar water shuttle in Lynn have been discussed for a number of years as city planners and developers proposed - and then scrapped - major waterfront projects.

A commercial pier project and, more recently, a gambling boat operation have operated successfully in the city.

Cowdell said the end result of the plan would create a pier big enough to fit three vessels and a commuter ferry boat ramp for easy access.

"I really feel strongly that this will work and in light of the waterfront master plan, it fits in perfectly," he said. "It also works with our plan for a continuous boardwalk in the long term."

The ferry project also aims to revive a stretch of the waterfront that is open to the public but is underused and in disrepair.

"We really want to create something that the public can use," he said. "The area has been in the current rundown condition for the past couple of decades."