Interstates: Interstate A-n (A-n) | State: Alaska Route n (AK-n) | |
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Alaska Routes are both numbered and named. There have been only twelve numbers issued (1 through 11 and 98), and the numbering often has no obvious pattern. For example, Alaska Route 4 runs north and south, whereas Alaska Route 2 runs largely east and west, but runs north and south passing through and to the north of Fairbanks. The Klondike Highway, built in 1978, was unnumbered until 1998, when it was given its designation during the centennial of the Klondike Gold Rush. However, many Alaskan highways of greater length than the Klondike Highway remain unnumbered.
Contents
Non-contiguous
Highways 7 and 10 consist of multiple separately named segments that do not physically approach each other, unless the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries as part of Alaska Route 7, and former Copper River and Northwestern Railway track bed as part of Alaska Route 10, are included.
Names versus numbers
Numbers and names do not always coincide well. Alaska Route 1 can refer to any of the Glenn Highway, Seward Highway, Sterling Highway, or Tok Cut-Off; meanwhile, portions of the Seward Highway are numbered Alaska Route 1, 9 and Interstate A3. (Interstate highway shields are not posted along highways in Alaska; these designations occur only on paper.)
Within Alaska, roads are almost invariably referred to by name or general destination, and not by number(s). Many residents are unfamiliar with official highway numbers even for those highways that they use frequently. Visitors are usually advised to avoid using highway numbers in asking for directions.
Mileposts
Mileposts, frequently used for road markers and official addressing in rural areas, are also more commonly reckoned by landmark names.
Highways by name
Many roads in Alaska are not numbered at all; a few of these are listed below in addition to those above.
List of U.S. Highways in Alaska
At one point, the Alaskan portion of the Alaska Highway was proposed to be designated part of U.S. Highway 97, but this was never carried out. Certain prior editions of USGS topographic maps, mostly published during the 1950s, do bear the US 97 highway shield along or near portions of the current Alaska Route 2.
Alaska Marine Highway
The Alaska Marine Highway and several other Alaska highways or routes are recognized as "highways" eligible for federal funding by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Marine Highway was declared a National Scenic Byway by the FHWA on June 13, 2002; and later declared an All-American Road on September 22, 2005.