Due to the rapid growth of the Greater Houston area (which includes Galveston County), the commute time required to board the ferry has rapidly increased (during the summer the wait can be up to two hours), which slows emergency response times (there are few emergency services, and no hospitals, on the peninsula, thus requiring trips to Galveston). Maintenance costs for the ferry crossing have risen to approximately $12 million per year, a 200 percent increase in the last eight years alone. The ferry is unusable in the event a tropical storm or hurricane approaches the area, thus forcing evacuating traffic onto the other two egresses from the island (Interstate 45 and a two-lane toll bridge on the west end of the island), and projected ship traffic in Galveston Bay (including the Houston Ship Channel) is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.
In 2000, TxDOT identified immediate need for improvements to the ferry crossing, specifically a third landing site (which is under construction), and also identified that the best long term solution was to replace the ferry with a bridge linking Galveston and Port Bolivar. The option to make the bridge a toll bridge is being considered along with other options.
Progress
TxDOT has held meetings with the Galveston and Port Bolivar communities to obtain input. A third ferry landing is being built at the present time, but this is considered an interim solution only; the long-term goal is a permanent fixed crossing.
TxDOT identified the following alternatives:
"No Build" (no improvements) – rejected as ferry system is at capacity
Expansion of ferry system – rejected as the system cannot be relied upon during evacuation or bad weather
Tunnel Crossing – rejected due to high cost and vehicle/cargo restrictions
The final solution was to build a bridge between the communities. Four tentative corridors were identified:
Route 1-1, using the existing Texas Highway 87 corridor
Route 1-2, using the Galveston Seawall as a corridor
Route 1-3, using nearby Pelican Island (immediately north of Galveston Island) as a corridor
Route 2 (including alternatives 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3), using the Texas City Dike as a corridor
The preferred corridor is Route 1-3, the Pelican Island alternative.
The plan is to complete all environmental studies and obtain final approval by Winter 2008.
