Assembly will trial keeping Lincoln Street open in May after tourism commission recommendation

Amy Ainsley, Sitka’s planning and community development director, told the Sitka City and Borough Assembly that staff plans to trial not closing Lincoln Street between Lake Street and Catlian Street for the month of May during the 2025 cruise season.

The change would mark a pause in a multi-year practice of closing Lincoln Street on larger cruise-ship days. Ainsley said the previous closure threshold was largely at 5,000 passengers and closures generally ran between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. She said the Assembly previously delegated authority to the municipal administrator to adjust closure thresholds and operations.

Ainsley said the decision to try an open-Lincoln approach in May reflects several operational shifts at the dock and local planning: better alignment with the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Sitka Dock Company on ship scheduling, dock operator plans to stagger arrivals and departures, and a new scheduling app intended to bus visitors into town at steadier intervals rather than producing large daytime surges.

“The introduction of a scheduling app will bus visitors into town at a more consistent steady flow as opposed to these large rushes,” Ainsley said. She told the Assembly the tourism commission reviewed the issue on March 13 and “unanimously recommended that we not close Lincoln Street during the summer season.”

Ainsley also said staff and partners will focus on pedestrian safety if the trial proceeds: recruiting crossing guards, expanding sidewalk attendants and deploying additional pedestrian-control measures to reduce jaywalking and improve safety. “We are going to be working on recruiting crossing guards,” Ainsley said.

The planning department will work with the tourism commission on whether downtown public restrooms should be deployed if street closures are not used and how to staff and fund any new pedestrian-safety measures. Ainsley said if the city needs to shift funding between CPV (commercial passenger vessel) funds and the general fund, staff will present a supplemental appropriation to the Assembly.

The Assembly did not take a formal vote on the Lincoln Street plan at the April 8 meeting. Ainsley said staff will observe conditions in May and return to the Assembly at its May 29 meeting with a recommendation for the remainder of the season. She advised that members of the public may submit comments to the planning department or attend tourism commission meetings.

Community members and downtown merchants had mixed feedback at earlier tourism commission meetings, Ainsley said, and the city intends to monitor operations during the trial month before deciding on full-season practice.