A method and system for providing control information for supporting high speed downlink and high speed uplink packet access are disclosed. A Node-B assigns at least one downlink control channel and at least one uplink control channel to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU). The downlink control channel and the uplink control channel are provided to carry control information for both the downlink and the uplink. Conventional control channels for downlink and uplink are combined into a reduced set of control channels for uplink and downlink. The Node-B and the WTRU communicate control information via the downlink control channel and the uplink control channel. The WTRU receives downlink data and transmits uplink data, and the Node-B receives uplink data and transmits downlink data based on the control information transmitted via the downlink control channel and the uplink control channel.