A $293 million plan would rebuild and narrow Anchorage's downtown couplet

Fifth and Sixth avenues are how most traffic gets through downtown Anchorage, a one-way pair running east and west between the Glenn Highway and the west end of downtown. Anchorage's transportation planning body is now working toward a $293 million rebuild of them, one that would give the corridor fewer lanes than it has today.

An AMATS technical committee recommended in August splitting the work into two pieces. The downtown segment, from L Street to Gambell Street, carries an estimated $262.5 million, a figure planners expect to refine. A second segment, running east from Gambell to Airport Heights, is estimated at $30.5 million.

The recommendation adds lane reductions, improvements for people walking and biking, and utility replacement to the project's official description. It also extends the corridor on paper, from a vague "5th/6th from L" to a defined stretch running Reeve Boulevard to L Street to Airport Heights.

That paperwork is the point. The Metropolitan Transportation Plan is Anchorage's federally required long-range blueprint, and under federal rules a significant project has to be consistent with it to qualify for federal money. Describing the work accurately in the plan is what keeps it eligible.

Construction downtown is scheduled to start in 2030 and finish in fall 2032. Funding is currently expected to come from the state transportation department and existing sources.

Public Works Director Kent Kohlhase called it a high priority. No one offered public comment.

The recommendation went to the AMATS Policy Committee, which makes the decision, on its August agenda. No minutes have been posted. The committee meets again Sept. 17.