Getting On and Off the Peninsula
The Hood Canal Bridge and the Coupeville ferry: how to check both are running before you drive, and the facts that don't change daily.
Everything in and out of Port Townsend crosses one bridge or one ferry. This page is how to check that both are running before you drive — plus the facts about each that don't change daily. The live word always comes from WSDOT's own pages, linked on each card.
Hood Canal Bridge (SR 104)
In force nowOpen except during marine openings, storms and maintenance; center-lock rehabilitation work continues through fall 2026.
The bridge is a floating drawspan, and federal law gives marine traffic priority: vessel openings stop road traffic for anywhere from about ten minutes to 45 minutes, with at least an hour's notice from civilian vessels — but Navy vessels get priority and their openings can come unannounced. From May 22 to September 30, pleasure craft can't request openings between 3:00 and 6:15 p.m., so afternoon commutes are protected from recreational openings.
In storms, the bridge closes to traffic when winds hold above 40 mph for 15 minutes — sometimes sooner, depending on wind direction and tides.
When the bridge is closed, the alternatives are the long drive around Hood Canal via US 101 — about three hours — or the Coupeville ferry. The unplanned closure of May 2025 is the local reference point for why people check first. Through fall 2026, center-lock rehabilitation work also brings occasional 30–40 minute test openings on weekdays.