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Alaska Route 1

Route map:
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For the Interstate Highway route, see Interstate A-1.
Alaska Route 1 marker
Alaska Route 1
Map
Route 1 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Alaska DOT&PF
Length545.92 mi[1] (878.57 km)
Major junctions
West end Alaska Marine Highway in Homer
Major intersections
East end AK-2 at Tok
Location
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
BoroughsKenai Peninsula, Municipality of Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Unorganized
Highway system
← AK-98→ AK-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 one of two routes in Alaska to contain significant portions of freeway: the Seward Highway in south Anchorage and the Glenn Highway between Anchorage and Palmer.

AK-1 is also known by the named highways it traverses:

Route description

Alaska Highway 1, in the Chugach National Forest, approaching a snow-capped mountain range

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 PeninsulaHomer0.000.00Land's End ResortDead end
0.090.14 Homer Ferry TerminalTo Alaska Marine Highway
Heath StreetSouthern terminus of Sterling Highway
Soldotna81.03130.41Kenai Spur Highway north – KenaiSouthern terminus of Interstate A3
Chugach National Forest138.18222.38
 AK-9 south (Seward Highway) – Seward		Northern terminus of AK-9; AK-1 transitions to Seward Highway
Hope Highway north – Hope
Municipality of Anchorage179.72289.23Portage Glacier Road east – Whittier, Portage Glacier
Old Seward Highway north
218.39351.46Southern terminus of freeway section
218.81352.14Old Seward Highway / Rabbit Creek Road
219.37353.04DeArmoun RoadSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
220.48354.83Huffman Road
221.45356.39 O'Malley RoadTo Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
222.96358.82Dimond Boulevard
223.66359.9576th AvenueSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
224.46361.23Dowling RoadDumbbell interchange
225.46362.84Tudor Road
226.01363.73
Old Seward Highway southInterchange; southbound exit only
Northern terminus of freeway section
20th AvenueNorthern terminus of Seward Highway
Mountain View DriveSouthern terminus of Glenn Highway
Southern terminus of freeway section
230.04370.21Bragaw Street
231.08371.89Boniface Parkway / Mountain View Drive – JBER-Elmendorf
231.84373.11Turpin StreetNorthbound exit and entrance
232.66374.43Muldoon RoadDDI interchange
234.22376.94Arctic Valley RoadNorthbound exit and southbound entrance
235.71379.34JBER-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 and Paradis Lane
253.17407.44Thunderbird FallsVia Old Glenn Highway; northbound exit and entrance
254.05408.85EklutnaVia Eklutna Village Road
257.57414.52Old Glenn Highway
Knik RiverSFC James Bondsteel Bridge of Honor
Matanuska-Susitna​259.06416.92Knik River Access
Palmer263.32423.77
 AK-3 north – Wasilla, Fairbanks		Southern terminus of AK-3 (George Parks Highway)
Northern terminus of freeway section
Palmer-Wasilla Highway / Evergreen Avenue
UnorganizedGlennallen409.54659.09
 AK-4 south (Richardson Highway) – Valdez		Southern terminus of AK-4 concurrency; northern terminus of Glenn Highway and Interstate A3
Gakona423.54681.62
 AK-4 north (Richardson Highway) – Fairbanks		Northern terminus of AK-4 concurrency; southern terminus of Tok Cutoff Highway
Tok545.92878.57 AK-2 (Alaska Highway) – Fairbanks, Canadian Border
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Tok Cut-Off

Interstate A-1 marker
Tok Cut-Off
LocationGakona—Tok
Length125 mi (201 km)
Existedc. 1940–present

The Tok Cut-Off is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 125 miles (201 km) from Gakona (on the Richardson Highway, 14 miles (23 km) north of Glennallen), to Tok on the Alaska Highway which had been constructed from Montana through Calgary, Alberta, through Whitehorse, Canada by Army engineers to move supplies and equipment, and to build airbases, to service the requirements of the Pacific theater, including transport of Lend Lease aircraft to the Soviet Union after its invasion by Germany.

The road was built in the 1940s through challenging terrain, largely by battalions of Black engineers, including the 97th Engineer Battallion.[6] in order to facilitate transport of World War II materiel in particular from ports such as Valdez and Anchorage to the interior. It was upgraded in the 1950s to better connect the Richardson Highway more directly with Tok. It was called a "cut-off" because it allowed motor traffic coming to and from Canada on the Alaska Highway, to drive directly northeast or southwest connect to or from Southcentral Alaska communities without driving all the way to or from the terminus of the Alaska highway in Delta Junction, then traveling northwest or southeast by the Richardson Highway, reducing 120 miles (190 km) from 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.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Central Region General Log[permanent dead link‍], 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[permanent dead link‍], 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 Archived 2009-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, April 2006
  3. ^ Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, January 17, 2003
  4. ^ Federal Highway Administration, National Highway System Viewer Archived 2007-08-27 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 2007
  5. ^ Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Routes Archived 2009-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, April 2006
  6. ^ BUILDING THE ALASKA HIGHWAY Race and the Army During World War II, WGBH-TV. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  7. ^ Mark Yashinsky, ed. (2004). Denali, Alaska, Earthquake of November 3, 2002. Reston, VA: ASCE, TCLEE. ISBN 9780784407479. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31.
  8. ^ Kagachi, Chihiro (2010). Last Frontier: A History of Alaska. London: Penguin.
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