Cantwell Hails Final Approval of $25M Federal Grant for New Lummi Island Ferry and Dock Upgrades

09.21.26 Cantwell Hails Final Approval of $25M Federal Grant for New Lummi Island Ferry and Dock Upgrades WASHINGTON, D.C. – Whatcom County and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have announced they have finalized a $25 million federal grant that will allow Whatcom County to replace the 64-year-old Lummi Island ferry with a state-of-the-art vessel and rebuild the aging ferry terminal. The grant came from DOT’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, which was championed by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. “This federal investment will allow construction to begin to replace a 64-year-old ferry used by over 175,000 passengers each year as the only link between Lummi Island and mainland Whatcom County,” said Sen. Cantwell . “Now and for decades to come, residents will have a reliable way to get to the mainland for vital services like jobs, groceries, education, and health care.” Sen. Cantwell visited Lummi Island and rode the existing ferry when the grant was first announced back in summer of 2022. Photos of her visit are available HERE , b-roll of Sen. Cantwell stepping off the Lummi Island Ferry is available HERE , and a transcript of her remarks is available HERE . Lummi Island is a rural community, with the ferry producing the only connection between the island and the mainland of Whatcom County. The Lummi Island Ferry is located on Lummi Nation land. The Lummi Island Ferry is one of the state’s oldest vessels and is well past the end of its useful life. The RAISE grant for the Lummi Island Ferry Replacement and System Modernization Project will help replace the ferry with a battery-hybrid vessel that would reduce emissions and increase ridership capacity to meet future growth. This funding comes following a letter of support written by Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray to then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in March 2022. RAISE grants, which were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants, can be used for a wide variety of infrastructure projects with local or regional impact. As then-chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, Sen. Cantwell worked to authorize the RAISE grant program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided the program with $7.5 billion over five years, a 50 percent increase in funding. Print Email Tweet Previous Article