{{Short description|Highway in Alaska, United States}} {{for|the Interstate Highway route|Interstate A-1}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox road |state=AK |type=AK |route=1 |map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=290|frame-lat=61.38 |frame-long=-147.14|zoom=5|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Alaska Route 1}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=Route 1 highlighted in red |length_mi=545.92 |length_ref=<ref name=log/> |established= |direction_a=West |terminus_a={{jct|extra=ferry}} Alaska Marine Highway in Homer |junction={{plainlist| *Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna *{{jct|state=AK|AK|9}} in Chugach National Forest *O'Malley Road in Anchorage *{{jct|state=AK|AK|3}} near Wasilla *{{jct|state=AK|AK|4}} in Glennallen and Gakona }} |direction_b=East |terminus_b={{jct|state=AK|AK|2}} at Tok |boroughs=Kenai Peninsula, Municipality of Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, Unorganized |previous_type=AK |previous_route=98 |next_type=AK |next_route=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: * Sterling Highway from Homer to Tern Lake Junction * Seward Highway from Tern Lake Junction to Anchorage * Glenn Highway from Anchorage to Glennallen * Richardson Highway from Glennallen and Gakona Junction * Tok Cut-Off from Gakona Junction to Tok
==Route description== [[File:Seward Highway (1).jpg|thumb|right|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.<ref name=NHS>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, [http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/routelists/nhs_mapset2006final.pdf National Highway System Maps] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727091109/http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/routelists/nhs_mapset2006final.pdf |date=2009-07-27 }}, April 2006</ref><ref name=MUTCD>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, [http://dicketool.com/Links_Info/MUTCD/StatesMUTCD/AK03SUP.pdf Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222055/http://dicketool.com/Links_Info/MUTCD/StatesMUTCD/AK03SUP.pdf |date=2007-09-27 }}, January 17, 2003</ref>
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.)<ref>Federal Highway Administration, National Highway System [http://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/hepgis_v2/Highway/Map.aspx Viewer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827123754/http://hepgis.fhwa.dot.gov/hepgis_v2/Highway/Map.aspx |date=2007-08-27 }}, accessed August 2007</ref><ref>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, [http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/routelists/interstate_mapset2006final.pdf Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Routes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727091058/http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/routelists/interstate_mapset2006final.pdf |date=2009-07-27 }}, April 2006</ref> 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== {{jcttop|state=AK|length_ref=<ref name=log>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, [http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/genlogs/2006_04_cenlog.pdf Central Region General Log]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, April 25, 2006 (Routes 110000 (Sterling Highway), 130000 (Seward Highway), 134150 (Ingra Street), 134600 (6th Avenue), 134440 (5th Avenue), and 135000 (Glenn Highway))<br>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, [http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/highwaydata/pub/genlogs/2006_04_norlog.pdf Northern Region General Log]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, April 25, 2006 (Routes 135000 (Glenn Highway), 190000 (Richardson Highway), and 230000 (Tok Cut-Off Highway))</ref>|unnum=yes}} {{AKint |borough=Kenai Peninsula |bspan=6 |location=Homer |lspan=3 |mile=0.00 |road=Land's End Resort |notes=Dead end }} {{AKint |mile=0.09 |road={{jct|extra=ferry}} Homer Ferry Terminal |notes=To Alaska Marine Highway }} {{AKint |mile= |type=trans |road=Heath Street |notes=Southern terminus of Sterling Highway }} {{AKint |location=Soldotna |mile=81.03 |type=trans |road=Kenai Spur Highway north – Kenai |notes=Southern terminus of Interstate A3 }} {{AKint |location=Chugach National Forest |lspan=2 |mile=138.18 |type=trans |road={{jct|state=AK|AK|9|dir1=south|name1=Seward Highway|city1=Seward}} |notes=Northern terminus of AK-9; AK-1 transitions to Seward Highway }} {{AKint |mile= |road=Hope Highway north – Hope }} {{AKint |indep_city=Anchorage |lspan=34 |mile=179.72 |road=Portage Glacier Road east – Whittier, Portage Glacier }} {{AKint |mile= |road=Old Seward Highway north }} {{jctplace |mile=218.39 |place=Southern terminus of freeway section }} {{AKint |mile=218.81 |road=Old Seward Highway / Rabbit Creek Road }} {{AKint |mile=219.37 |type=incomplete |road=DeArmoun Road |notes=Southbound exit and northbound entrance }} {{AKint |mile=220.48 |road=Huffman Road }} {{AKint |mile=221.45 |road={{jct|extra=airport}} O'Malley Road |notes=To Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport }} {{AKint |mile=222.96 |road=Dimond Boulevard }} {{AKint |mile=223.66 |type=incomplete |road=76th Avenue |notes=Southbound exit and northbound entrance }} {{AKint |mile=224.46 |road=Dowling Road |notes=Dumbbell interchange }} {{AKint |mile=225.46 |road=Tudor Road }} {{AKint |mile=226.01 |place=Northern terminus of freeway section }} {{AKint |mile= |type=incomplete |road=Old Seward Highway south |notes=Interchange; southbound exit only }} {{jctplace |mile= |mspan=2 |place=Northern terminus of freeway section }} {{AZint |mile=none |road=20th Avenue |type=trans |notes=Northern terminus of Seward Highway }} {{AKint |mile= |mspan=2 |type=trans |road=Mountain View Drive |notes=Southern terminus of Glenn Highway }} {{jctplace |mile=none |place=Southern terminus of freeway section }} {{AKint |mile=230.04 |road=Bragaw Street |notes=}} {{AKint |mile=231.08 |road=Boniface Parkway / Mountain View Drive – JBER-Elmendorf }} {{AKint |mile=231.84 |type=incomplete |road=Turpin Street |notes=Northbound exit and entrance }} {{AKint |mile=232.66 |road=Muldoon Road |notes=DDI interchange }} {{AKint |mile=234.22 |type=incomplete |road=Arctic Valley Road |notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance }} {{AKint |mile=235.71 |road=JBER-Richardson, Arctic Valley |notes=Via D Street }} {{AKint |mile=239.70 |road=Eagle River Loop Road / Hiland Road }} {{AKint |mile=241.45 |road=Eagle River |notes=Via Old Glenn Highway }} {{AKint |mile=243.30 |road= North Eagle River |notes=Via North Eagle River Access Road }} {{AKint |mile=245.31 |road=South Birchwood |notes=Via South Birchwood Loop Road }} {{AKint |mile=248.73 |road=North Birchwood |notes=Via Birchwood Loop Road }} {{AKint |mile=249.73 |road=Peters Creek |notes=Via Voyles Boulevard }} {{AKint |mile=250.75 |road=North Peters Creek |notes=Via Lake Hill Drive }} {{AKint |mile=252.03 |road=Mirror Lake |notes=Via Old Glenn Highway and Paradis Lane }} {{AKint |mile=253.17 |type=incomplete |road= Thunderbird Falls |notes=Via Old Glenn Highway; northbound exit and entrance }} {{AKint |mile=254.05 |road=Eklutna |notes=Via Eklutna Village Road }} {{AKint |mile=257.57 |road=Old Glenn Highway }} {{jctbridge |river=Knik River |mile= |bridge=SFC James Bondsteel Bridge of Honor }} {{AKint |borough=Matanuska-Susitna |bspan=4 |location=none |mile=259.06 |road=Knik River Access }} {{AKint |location=Palmer |lspan=3 |mile=263.32 |mspan=2 |road={{jct|state=AK|AK|3|dir1=north|city1=Wasilla|city2=Fairbanks}} |notes=Southern terminus of AK-3 (George Parks Highway) }} {{jctplace |mile=none |place=Northern terminus of freeway section }} {{AKint |mile= |road=Palmer-Wasilla Highway / Evergreen Avenue }} {{AKint |borough=Unorganized |bspan=3 |type=concur |location=Glennallen |mile=409.54 |road={{jct|state=AK|AK|4|dir1=south|name1=Richardson Highway|city1=Valdez}} |notes=Southern terminus of AK-4 concurrency; northern terminus of Glenn Highway and Interstate A3 }} {{AKint |location=Gakona |mile=423.54 |type=concur |road={{jct|state=AK|AK|4|dir1=north|name1=Richardson Highway|city1=Fairbanks}} |notes=Northern terminus of AK-4 concurrency; southern terminus of Tok Cutoff Highway }} {{AKint |location=Tok |mile=545.92<!--545.917 exactly, but that's false precision--> |road={{jct|state=AK|AK|2|name1=Alaska Highway|city1=Fairbanks|location2=Canadian Border}} }} {{Jctbtm|keys=concur,incomplete,trans}}
==Tok Cut-Off== {{Infobox road small |country=USA |state=AK |type=I |route=1 |name=Tok Cut-Off |location=Gakona—Tok |length_mi=125 |length_ref= |formed={{circa|1940}} }} The '''Tok Cut-Off''' is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running {{convert|125|mi}} from Gakona (on the Richardson Highway, {{convert|14|mi}} 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 Battalion.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/alaska-WWII/ BUILDING THE ALASKA HIGHWAY Race and the Army During World War II], ''WGBH-TV''. Retrieved July 26, 2022.</ref> in order to facilitate transport of World War II material 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 {{convert|120|mi}} 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.<ref name=Yashinsky>{{cite book|title=Denali, Alaska, Earthquake of November 3, 2002|year=2004|publisher=ASCE, TCLEE|location=Reston, VA|isbn=9780784407479|url=http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5370|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000522/http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5370|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-12-31|editor=Mark Yashinsky}}</ref><ref name="Kagachi">{{cite book|title=Last Frontier: A History of Alaska|last1=Kagachi|first1=Chihiro|year=2010|publisher=Penguin|location=London}}</ref>
==See also== * {{Portal-inline|Alaska}} * {{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}
Category:Copper River Census Area, Alaska Category:Expressways in the United States Category:Freeways in the United States Category:Homer, Alaska Category:Interstate Highways in Alaska Category:Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska 01 Category:Transportation in Anchorage, Alaska Category:Transportation in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Category:Transportation in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Category:Transportation in Unorganized Borough, Alaska