New plans show revised route for Greenport ferry traffic, with entrance on Fourth instead of Wiggins

Engineers are revising preliminary design plans for the North Ferry terminal area in Greenport that could see the ferry line entrance accessed from Fourth Street rather than Wiggins Street.

Engineers are making the revisions based on feedback provided by neighbors and the state Department of Transportation, Village Administrator Paul Pallas said.

The major change is shifting access to the line to Fourth Street as well as adding some green space and moving some parking spots around, he said.

Citing a lack of input from village officials, Village Trustee Mary Bess Phillips spoke out against the proposal. 

“I find it totally disrespectful to this board to have this application not reviewed and discussed with us first,” she said, before engineers began working on a ‘Plan B.’

“In all honesty, the Fourth Street suggestion is not one that I would support, period,” she said during a work session at the Third Street firehouse Thursday. “It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Mr. Pallas said comments from the DOT suggest alternative options must be considered to avoid triggering a traffic study and ultimately a more costly and time-consuming process. “I just don’t know that DOT is going to just let us keep it the way it is without doing a lot more work I’m not sure we have time or funds to do,” he said.

Feedback from the DOT will be forwarded for village trustees to review and Mr. Pallas said he expects to have an updated preliminary design in hand sometime next week.