Federally-required MPO programming federal transportation funds for the Anchorage Bowl; joint Muni / DOT&PF / People Mover body.
Anchorage trails plan keeps Muldoon trail but drops JBER from its name
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson asked planners to delete the Muldoon Perimeter Trail from Anchorage's 2026 Recreational Trails Plan, citing mission incompatibility. The project team kept the concept, citing public support. The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee takes up the plan Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min readAI
Anchorage trails plan adds inland fallback route for stalled Kincaid-to-Potter Marsh trail
The 2026 Recreational Trails Plan says the South Coastal Trail extension from Kincaid Park to Potter Marsh is still blocked by mixed support from bluff-top property owners and unresolved routing inside the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, so planners propose an inland alternate. The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee takes up the plan Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min readAI
A $293 million plan would rebuild and narrow Anchorage's downtown couplet
The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee voted Aug. 6 to recommend the Policy Committee split the downtown 5th and 6th Avenue Complete Streets project into two segments and raise the estimate for the downtown portion to $262 million.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min readAI
Anchorage may move a national bike route off its highways and onto the coastal trails
Anchorage transportation planners are backing a change to reroute U.S. Bicycle Route 97 off the Seward and Glenn highways and onto the Coastal Trail, Ship Creek Trail and Old Glenn pathway.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
A routine Anchorage roads vote this week would also fund cameras at 82 more intersections
The AMATS Policy Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday, Aug. 20, on a funding change adding $2.029 million to the Tudor Road center median project, $250,000 for Mountain View Drive design work, and an $842,000 shift for Anchorage signal cameras.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago4 min readAI
Anchorage shifts $3.46 million from Denali Street to a Fairview pedestrian boulevard
Anchorage's transportation policy committee removed a Denali Street non-motorized project and shifted $3.46 million to the Hyder Pedestrian Boulevard in Fairview.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min readAI
A Seward Highway rebuild that doubled to $1.4 billion is back on Anchorage's plan, over objections
A $1.4 billion Seward Highway rebuild, more than double its 2024 cost, was voted back into Anchorage's long-range transportation plan on a 3-2 split, over objections about cost, priority and public input.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min readAI
The state wants $293M to rebuild 5th and 6th, but the funding isn't settled
The AMATS Policy Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on a DOT&PF request to split the 5th and 6th Avenue rebuild in two and program $262.5 million for the downtown segment, $52.5 million less than the attached cost estimate's recommended placeholder.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Trucks keep hitting the Tudor Road overpass. The rebuild is years out
The Federal Highway Administration obligated another $912,130 on Aug. 4 to the Seward Highway and Tudor Road interchange reconstruction, the first addition since 2023. Environmental document approval and 35 percent design review are both due this month.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
The state is drilling test holes for a Seward Highway fix, as a bigger $1.5 billion plan draws fire
As Alaska rebids a Seward Highway drilling contract, a far larger $1.5 billion rebuild draws fire from Anchorage's advisory committee, which calls it oversized.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
The 5th and 6th avenue rebuild just hit $370 million — and even planners are flagging "scope creep"
The rebuild of Anchorage's 5th and 6th avenues now carries a $370 million estimate with an unclear funding source, as planning staff flag concerns about scope creep and affordability.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
A plan would move Anchorage's bike route off the highways onto trails
AMATS staff asked the Technical Advisory Committee on Thursday to recommend a letter backing DOT&PF's plan to shift US Bicycle Route 97 off the Seward and Glenn highways and onto the Coastal Trail, Ship Creek Trail and Old Glenn Highway pathway. The AASHTO application is due Oct. 1.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage advisory committees could lose the ability to write officials on their own
The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee is asked to review draft Policy & Procedure No. 7 and recommend approval to the Policy Committee. It would route subcommittee communications to elected or federal officials through both committees first.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
A $1.5 billion Seward Highway plan pits safety against the Turnagain Arm viewshed
Anchorage's transportation advisory committee wants the $1.5 billion Safer Seward Highway project pulled from the long-range plan, calling it oversized; DOT&PF defends it as a safety corridor fix.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage faces federal funding freeze if transportation plan misses December deadline
AMATS must adopt its 2052 transportation plan by Dec. 29 or Anchorage loses access to new federal project funding, with a boundary dispute holding up the deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Anchorage planning boundary dispute unresolved between Assembly and state
The AMATS Policy Committee and DOT&PF have not reached agreement on the Anchorage Metropolitan Planning Area boundary approved in September 2024. The boundary has not yet been forwarded to the governor's office, and it must be resolved before the 2052 transportation plan can be finalized by a December federal deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage trails plan is 27 years old. A replacement is in the works.
A formal literature review by R&M Consultants for AMATS and the Municipality of Anchorage confirms the city's 1997 Areawide Trails Plan is seven years past its 20-year horizon, a recommended oversight committee was never formed, and a replacement plan is now moving toward approvals.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage programs Fairview Bypass into 2052 plan at $220M
Four phases of the Fairview Bypass—a grade-separated parkway along Merrill Field's southeast edge—moved into short-term programming in the 2052 MTP at $220.5 million, the largest single corridor project in the plan.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Anchorage transit plan adds $684M in routes, microtransit zones through 2052
AMATS moved 43 transit projects into the 2052 Metropolitan Transportation Plan Friday, including five new microtransit zones, seven new fixed routes, and fare elimination for seniors and veterans—a $684 million expansion that would reshape public transit across Anchorage and Eagle River over the next 26 years.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readAI
Alaska DOT programs Fairview Bypass into 2052 plan at $220M
Alaska DOT&PF programmed four phases of the Fairview Bypass project into the 2052 transportation plan Thursday with combined construction costs of $220.5 million. The programming follows completion of a planning study that selected a parkway route through public land.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readAI