PORTLAND (AP) — A $3 million project to update and expand the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal is getting started.

Construction started Tuesday and a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday.

The project will double the size of the waiting area to 9,000 square feet and move it closer to the busiest gates, making them visible from the waiting room. New and enlarged restrooms will be moved closer to the ticket counter for better monitoring.

Casco Bay Island Transit District officials told The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/14UWYkd ) the terminal, built in 1988, is inadequate. Now, nearly 1 million people use the ferry service a year, double the number in 1988. The ferry service transports 30,000 vehicles and 5,300 tons of freight annually between Portland and islands.

The project should be complete in May.