The ferry companies that operate out of Belleville Street Terminal are, for the first time in years, sounding optimistic that positive changes may be coming to the tired waterfront site.
Operators of the Clipper and Coho ferries were happy to hear B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone tell a Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce audience that the terminal represents “an exciting opportunity.”
“The importance of these properties to the economy of Greater Victoria and southern Vancouver Island cannot be [overstated],” Stone said in his lunchtime address. “The next step is an engineering study of the wharves … and the information gleaned will be used to develop a mid- to long-term plan to improve these assets.”
Darrell Bryan, president of Clipper Navigation, which runs catamaran service between Victoria and Seattle, said “in all the time I’ve been here, I’ve never seen it where things were starting to come together.
“There now seems to be a political will to do something. There is resounding support for a multi-user terminal. It will all come down to dollars, but I do think they want to see something accomplished.”
That’s high praise considering the last time Bryan was asked about movement on terminal improvement, he said the Times Colonist would be writing his obituary before it wrote about a new terminal.
“There is something positive here, and I’m not a positive guy,” Bryan added with a laugh.
The optimism stems from the B.C. Transportation Ministry taking over the site, which had previously been under the control of the Provincial Capital Commission.
Ryan Burles, chief executive of Blackball Ferry, which operates the Coho between Victoria and Port Angeles, said the optimism is real and that being able to work directly with the ministry has made getting things done easier.
In the spring, the company signed a new three-year lease with the ministry to remain in the Inner Harbour.
“We’re fairly happy,” said Burles, adding they are looking at a three-stage process to make significant changes to the site.
The first phase is to get an engineering report done on the dock, which everyone seems to agree needs replacing.
Burles, whose company recently finished a $4-million project to upgrade its Port Angeles dock and signed a 30-year lease in the Washington state town, believes dock replacement in Victoria will cost about $10 million.
But from what the transportation minister said, that’s seen as an investment.
“It’s a great story with Blackball and Clipper — the economic impact and the number of people whose entry point into Canada let alone Victoria is through these two services,” he said, adding his team is working to get a new lease deal done with Clipper.
The terminal, home to Clipper, Coho and U.S. customs welcomes about one-third of the city’s 3.5 million annual visitors.
Stone used much of his address to lay out the framework of the province’s new 10-year transportation strategy, noting public engagement will play a big role in shaping plans.
He said the government is looking at transportation through the lens of economic development and the movement of goods as it aligns transportation priorities with economic opportunity. “Where to get the biggest bang for our taxpayer dollar,” Stone said.
