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On the day the Water Transit Authority announced it had received a major infusion of federal funds to all but guarantee a new ferry line in Berkeley, the City Council made clear that a terminal at the mouth of Gilman Street was off-limits. 

“Gilman Street is a non-starter for us,” Mayor Tom Bates told WTA head Steve Castlebury at Tuesday’s council meeting. “There’s no room for it there. We’re squeezing in sports fields as it is.” 

By an 8-1 vote, the council recommended that the WTA study only the environmental impacts of a ferry terminal at the edge of the Berkeley Marina.  

A Berkeley-to-San Francisco ferry is being planned to debut in 2010. WTA studies show that the ferry stop would generate about 500 to 700 daily trips. 

Berkeley is first in line among East Bay cities for the new direct ferry service to San Francisco, Castlebury said. Regional Measure 2, passed by voters in 2002, called specifically for a ferry line to connect Berkeley and San Francisco as long as the city or the WTA secured money for a Berkeley Ferry terminal, estimated to cost $10 million. 

On Tuesday, the WTA announced that it will receive $14 million from the recently passed federal transportation bill. With $4 million earmarked for a planned Oakland-South San Francisco Line, Castlebury said the WTA would likely spend the remaining funds to build the Berkeley terminal. 

If the Berkeley terminal somehow falls through, the WTA would then consider terminals in either Albany or Richmond, according to Castlebury. “Right now Berkeley is not in competition with Richmond or Albany for a ferry terminal, it’s in competition with itself.” 

Environmental groups have opposed a Gilman Street terminal because it would require dredging of the bay and threaten a bird habitat. 

Castlebury added that the WTA might still have to do a cursory study of a Gilman Street terminal to satisfy the requirements of Measure 2, but that the agency would honor the council’s wishes. 

“The council’s message was loud and clear and we’ll reflect that,” he said. 

The WTA is preparing an environmental review of alternative terminal sites to begin later this year. 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli cast the lone dissenting vote, saying that the council didn’t have enough information to write off Gilman as a possible terminal site. 

Even if Berkeley gets a ferry terminal, the WTA could still put a second terminal in either Richmond or Hercules, Castlebury said. A Contra Costa County sales tax has put aside money for a terminal in either city."