By TARA LEMM

tlemm@northkitsapherald.com

KINGSTON — Kingston Lumber used to send one to two trucks per day to Sequim or Port Angeles, delivering products to customers on the west side. It’s a journey that can burn anywhere from 45-75 minutes each way.

Since the Hood Canal Bridge closure May 1, Kingston Lumber has a truck scheduled to travel westward three times a week, a three- to four-hour one-way trip.

“It’s not so much mileage, it’s hours,” said Kingston Lumber owner Tom Waggoner. “My biggest concern is for the driver’s safety. That highway on that side of the canal is very tough on our drivers.”

Business owners and residents alike have had to make daily-routine tweaks to accommodate for the bridge closure, which many are crossing their fingers reopens by Memorial Day weekend.

They’re also having to account for fewer folks being in town, and therefore fewer business transactions taking place.

“We’re obviously not getting the walk-in we normally get from that area,” Waggoner said. “The head count is off.”

Last Saturday a few people dotted the farmers market, but other than that the town was vacant. On Tuesday afternoon nary a pedestrian or car was seen on the streets.

“Basically, the traffic flow is gone. As far as any new faces around town, there really (aren’t) any,” said John Olson, who works at Majestic Mountain Coffee. “Oh yeah, we got hosed. We hope they open before Memorial Day weekend because that’s a big weekend for us downtown here.”

Some downtown employees and owners themselves refer to Kingston as a ghost town.

The log book at the Greater Kingston Area of Commerce shows more of the same. The weeks before the closure there were at least a few entries a week from Seattle-area visitors and those from around the state, even some as far away as Colorado, Montana, Texas and Maryland. Since May, the entries are mainly from North Enders, with a sprinkling of Western Washington travelers.

“We get a certain amount of people looking for a day trip, and anybody who is even thinking of going to the peninsula isn’t going to be coming this direction,” said chamber volunteer Jack Minert.

But perhaps Washington State Ferries is carrying the bulk of the impact, and it’s not just tourists who are skipping out on cross-sound journeys.

Joe Malono is terminal supervisor for the Kingston ferry terminal while the bridge is closed. He’s normally the supervisor at Coleman Dock in Seattle.

Malono said Mother’s Day is traditionally the biggest day of the year system-wide, and this May 10, runs were down almost 40 percent.

Kingston and Bainbridge Island are the system’s two busiest docks and Malono said they’re both experiencing significantly lower numbers.

“It’s been down 35 to 40 percent — that’s every day – for those two docks,” he said. “A lot just planned around it or took vacations.”

Safe to say all are anticipating the reopening of the bridge. And several throughout town have heard it may be opened for this big, three-day, holiday weekend.

“We’re looking forward to the bridge opening,” Waggoner said. “There’s several jobs that will be coming on-line in August that we’re in the process of planning with people over there.”