Interstate Highways in Alaska

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Map of the Interstates of Alaska
Map of the Interstates of Alaska

There are four officially designated interstate highways in Alaska, even though Alaska is usually considered to have no interstates, and the routes do not connect directly to any highways in the contiguous United States, except either by the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries or via Canadian highways.

These routes are numbered A-1 through A-4 and receive similar funding to interstates in the Lower 48, but are unsigned (unlike those in Hawaii) and exist only "on paper".

They follow various combinations of Alaska Routes, which generally fail to meet interstate standards, being for the most part two-lane rural highways without controlled access. The federal government established the classification of these roads as interstate highways primarily for funding purposes. There appears to be no indication that upgrades to interstate highway standards will be made, aside from a few heavily traveled urban corridors. Limited-access Freeways exist only within and near Anchorage, Fairbanks and Wasilla.

The four interstates are listed in Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 and on Windows Live Local.[1]

Interstate A-1 encompasses the Glenn Highway; the Richardson Highway between the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cut-Off; the Tok Cut-Off; and the Alaska Highway between Tok and the Canadian border.

Interstate A-2 encompasses the Alaska Highway between Tok and Delta Junction; and the Richardson Highway between Delta Junction and Fairbanks.

Interstate A-3 encompasses the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Tern Lake; and the Sterling Highway between Tern Lake and Soldotna.

Interstate A-4 encompasses the Parks Highway which runs from Palmer to Fairbanks.

[edit] Length

Route Length Termini
A-1 408.23 mi 656.98 km Anchorage, A-3 to Canadian border
A-2 202.18 mi 325.38 km Tok, A-1 to Fairbanks, A-4
A-3 148.12 mi 238.38 km Anchorage, A-1 to Soldotna
A-4 323.69 mi 520.93 km Palmer, A-1 to Fairbanks, A-2

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links

Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink) Interstate Highway marker
4 5 8 10 12 15 16 17 19 20 22 24 25 26 27 29 30
35 37 39 40 43 44 45 49 55 57 59 64 65 66 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 (W) 76 (E) 77 78 79 80 81 82
83 84 (W) 84 (E) 85 86 (W) 86 (E) 87 88 (W) 88 (E) 89 90
91 93 94 95 96 97 99 (238) H-1 H-2 H-3
Unsigned  A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3
Lists  Primary  Main - Intrastate - Suffixed - Future - Gaps
Auxiliary  Main - Future - Unsigned
Other  Standards - Business - Bypassed