Alaska Route 1

Not to be confused with Interstate A-1.

Alaska Route 1 marker

Alaska Route 1
Route information
Maintained by Alaska DOT&PF
Length: 545.92 mi[1] (878.57 km)
Major junctions
West end: Alaska Marine Highway in Homer
  Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna
AK-9 in Moose Pass
O'Malley Road in Anchorage
AK-3 near Wasilla
AK-4 in Glennallen and Gakona
East end: AK-2 at Tok
Location
Boroughs: Kenai Peninsula, Municipality of Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Unorganized
Highway system
AK-98AK-2

Alaska Route 1 (AK-1) is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It runs from Homer northeast and east to Tok by way of Anchorage. It is the only route in Alaska to contain significant portions of freeway: the Seward Highway in south Anchorage and the Glenn Highway between Anchorage and Palmer.

Route description

AK-1 begins at the Alaska Marine Highway's Homer Ferry Terminal at the tip of Homer Spit just south of the end of the Sterling Highway in Homer. It follows the entire Sterling Highway through Soldotna to the junction with the Seward Highway north of Seward, where it meets the north end of AK-9. There it turns north and follows the Seward Highway to its end in Anchorage, and follows the one-way pairs of Ingra and Gambell Streets and 6th and 5th Avenues, continuing east on 5th Avenue to the beginning of the Glenn Highway. AK-1 follows the entire length of the Glenn Highway, passing the south end of the George Parks Highway (AK-3) near Wasilla and meeting the Richardson Highway (AK-4) near Glennallen. A short concurrency north along AK-4 takes AK-1 to the Tok Cut-Off, which it follows northeast to its end at the Alaska Highway (AK-2) at Tok.[2][3]

The majority of AK-1 is part of the Interstate Highway System; only the route between Homer and Soldotna does not carry an unsigned Interstate designation. The entire length of A-3 follows AK-1 from the Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna to the turn in downtown Anchorage; there A-1 begins, running to Tok along AK-1. (A-1 continues to the Yukon border along AK-2, the Alaska Highway.)[4][5] Only a short portion of the Seward Highway south of downtown Anchorage and a longer portion of the Glenn Highway northeast to AK-3 are built to freeway standards; the proposed Highway to Highway Connection would link these through downtown.

Major intersections

All exits are unnumbered.

BoroughLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Kenai PeninsulaHomer Spit0.000.00Land's End ResortBeginning of state maintenance
0.090.14 Ferry Terminal Road Homer Ferry Terminal
HomerKachemak DriveTo Homer Airport
Soldotna81.03130.41Kenai Spur Highway north Kenai
Moose Pass138.18222.38 AK-9 south (Seward Highway) SewardAlaska Route 1 takes on the Seward Highway name going north
Municipality of Anchorage179.72289.23Portage Glacier Highway Whittier
South end of freeway
218.39351.46154th Avenue
218.81352.14Old Seward Highway / Rabbit Creek Road
219.37353.04DeArmoun RoadSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
220.48354.83Huffman Road
221.45356.39O'Malley Road
222.96358.82Dimond Boulevard
223.66359.9576th AvenueSouthbound exit only
224.46361.23Dowling RoadExits to barbell roundabout interchange
225.46362.84Tudor Road
226.01363.7336th Avenue
North end of freeway
20th Avenue
North end of Seward Highway, begin Gambell Street / Ingra Street one-way pair
228.00366.935th Avenue  / 6th AvenueAK-1 turns onto 6th Avenue / off of 5th Avenue
229.37369.14Airport Heights Drive / Mountain View Drive
South end of Glenn Highway and freeway section
230.04370.21Bragaw Street
231.08371.89Boniface Parkway / Mountain View Drive Elmendorf AFB
231.84373.11Turpin StreetNorthbound exit and entrance
232.66374.43Muldoon RoadPartial cloverleaf interchange
234.22376.94Arctic Valley RoadNorthbound exit only
235.71379.34Fort Richardson, Arctic ValleyVia D Street
239.70385.76Eagle River Loop Road / Hiland Road
241.45388.58Eagle RiverVia Old Glenn Highway
243.30391.55North Eagle RiverVia North Eagle River Access Road
245.31394.79South BirchwoodVia South Birchwood Loop Road
248.73400.29North BirchwoodVia Birchwood Loop Road
249.73401.90Peters CreekVia Voyles Boulevard
250.75403.54North Peters CreekVia Lake Hill Drive
252.03405.60Mirror LakeVia Old Glenn Highway / Paradis Lane
253.17407.44Thunderbird FallsVia Denaina Elders Road; Northbound exit and entrance
254.05408.85EklutnaVia Eklutna Village Road
257.57414.52Old Glenn Highway
Matanuska-Susitna 259.06416.92Knik River Access
Palmer263.32423.77 AK-3 north (George Parks Highway) Wasilla, FairbanksSouthern terminus of Alaska Route 3 / George Parks Highway
North end of freeway
Palmer-Wasilla Highway / Evergreen Ave
UnorganizedGlennallen409.54659.09 AK-4 south (Richardson Highway) ValdezSouth end of concurrency with Alaska Route 4 & Richardson Highway
Gakona423.54681.62 AK-4 north (Richardson Highway) FairbanksNorth end of concurrency with Alaska Route 4 & Richardson Highway
Tok545.92878.57 AK-2 (Alaska Highway) Fairbanks, International BorderNorthern terminus of Alaska Route 1
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Tok Cut-Off

Tok Cut-Off
Location: Gakona Junction—Tok
Length: 125 mi (201 km)
Existed: c.1940–present

The Tok Cut-Off is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 125 miles (201 km) from Gakona Junction (on the Richardson Highway, 14 miles (23 km) north of Glennallen), to Tok on the Alaska Highway.

The road was built in the 1940s and 1950s to connect Tok more directly with the Richardson Highway. It was called a "cut-off" because it allowed motor travelers coming north on the Alaska Highway to travel to Valdez and Anchorage without going to Delta Junction and then traveling south on the Richardson Highway, taking 120 miles (190 km) off the trip.

The 2002 Denali earthquake caused significant damage to the Cut-Off, particularly between mileposts 75 and 83 where major cracks and embankment slumping left the roadway fundamentally destroyed.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Central Region General Log, April 25, 2006 (Routes 110000 (Sterling Highway), 130000 (Seward Highway), 134150 (Ingra Street), 134600 (6th Avenue), 134440 (5th Avenue), and 135000 (Glenn Highway))
    Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Northern Region General Log, April 25, 2006 (Routes 135000 (Glenn Highway), 190000 (Richardson Highway), and 230000 (Tok Cut-Off Highway))
  2. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, National Highway System Maps, April 2006
  3. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement, January 17, 2003
  4. Federal Highway Administration, National Highway System Viewer, accessed August 2007
  5. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Routes, April 2006
  6. Mark Yashinsky, ed. (2004). Denali, Alaska, Earthquake of November 3, 2002. Reston, VA: ASCE, TCLEE. ISBN 9780784407479.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

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