No Concessions To The Steamship

To the editor: An early justification the Steamship Authority gave for placing its new ticket building in Woods Hole in its current location was the installation of a floodwater drainage system to contain water runoff so it would not go onto land around its property.

The public was always told that the architectural plans met all basic safety and other requirements, including easy and safe access to and exit from the SSA property, without the need for any entrance or exit changes. However, for years, residents had countered that this was not possible if the plans were as shown on paper.

Now that the major construction has been completed, we have learned that the SSA's architect and project manager BIA.studio was more shooting from the hip than relying on carefully designed architectural plans. As a result, the SSA has recently had to make requests for curb cuts that violate Town of Falmouth regulations.

Without the curb cuts, the SSA must rely on its fallback plan, which is to have SSA personnel guide the traffic through a complex maze of overlapping traffic circulations. The alternative is to redesign its layout and traffic circulation plans and make the changes just as the tourist season is about to begin, which will create further congestion and problems.

BIA.studio and Bob Davis, former SSA general manager and currently senior advisor of the SSA, must accept full responsibility for the negligence that led to this problem.

The new SSA general manager, Alex Kryska, cannot undo what Davis has done. Nevertheless, the new general manager and SSA senior staff, many of whom had supported BIA.studio and Mr. Davis' misguided strategy for the terminal, must now find a legal way to operate while abiding by all rules and regulations.

Before the massive new construction project in Woods Hole began, the SSA should have known where its boundaries lay and that its entire completed project had to be designed to lie entirely within that footprint and without violating town rules and regulations. The SSA and BIA.studio had years to perform all the studies they needed before starting construction. It is now time for the SSA to figure out how to make its operations work within existing laws and the Town of Falmouth's legal boundaries without variances.

The SSA has plans to reapply for new curb cuts. The Town of Falmouth has so far rejected those requests. The Town of Falmouth must stand its ground and enforce its existing laws, including those related to new curb cuts and drainage regulations, which the SSA knew about but chose to ignore. The SSA must abide by laws and regulations, show respect for its port communities, and live within its financial and space constraints.

Damien Kuffler
Woods Hole