Downtown Links Project Update

The east half of the project, from Stone Avenue to Broadway Boulevard, is nearly complete, and will open for vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian use by mid-January 2023. Work completed along this portion of the Downtown Links Project include:

  • Intersection improvements at Broadway Boulevard/Maclovio Barraza Parkway
  • Multi-Use-Path (MUP) along the entire eastside of Maclovio Barraza Parkway alignment
  • MUP connection at Stevens Plaza Park near the Fourth Avenue underpass
  • Bridge installed over Sixth Avenue
  • Seventh Street/Seventh Avenue HAWK for safe bicycle/pedestrian roadway and UPRR crossing
  • New intersection at Sixth Street/Maclovio Barraza Parkway
  • Drainage improvements
  • Sewer Improvements
  • Waterline improvements
  • Paving
  • Landscaping
  • Lighting

The last, and most complicated section, of the entire Downtown Links Project – from Stone Avenue to Church Avenue – is currently under construction. It includes key features such as the realignment of Sixth Street, an underpass beneath the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), a Deck Plaza crossing above the new alignment of Sixth Street (at Ninth Avenue) and a new pedestrian bridge crossing above Stone Avenue, north of the existing railroad underpass.

Weather, material allocation/supply, and coordination with the UPRR have all factored in the completion date of the project which is currently scheduled for summer 2024.

Following is a summarized version of work that must be completed before opening the final section of Downtown Links, Sixth Street, between Stone and Church avenues:

  • Complete the box culvert construction and other drainage improvements
  • Complete the temporary structure (shoring operation) that will function as the support for the UPRR while the contractor excavates beneath the existing railroad.
  • Build the temporary UPRR tracks (shoofly)
  • Build the Ninth Avenue bridge and deck plaza
  • Build the Ninth Avenue HAWK for safe bicycle/pedestrian UPRR crossing
  • Build the retaining walls that allow for construction of the lowered Sixth Street
  • Create the new signalized intersection at Church Avenue and Sixth Street
  • Complete lighting and landscaping