The Interstate Highways in Alaska are all owned and maintained by the U.S. state of Alaska. The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is responsible for the maintenance and operations of the Interstate Highways. The Interstate Highway System in Alaska comprises four highways that cover approximately 1,082.22 miles (1,741.66 km). The longest of these is A-1, at 408.23 miles (656.98 km) long, while the shortest route is A-3, at 148.12 miles (238.38 km) long.
Interstates in Alaska follow the numbering system Interstate A-n, where n represents the number of the Interstate. This follows the similar numbering systems for Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Currently, all Interstates in Alaska are unsigned and are not generally referred to by their highway numbers. In fact most Alaskans are unaware of those numbers. The Interstate Highway System was expanded to Alaska in 1976, by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1976, which defined the system for Interstates in Alaska and Puerto Rico under Title 23, Chapter 1, Section 103 (c)(1)(B)(ii) of the U.S. Code.
Most of the lengths of the Interstates in Alaska are not constructed to Interstate Highway standards, but are small, rural, two-lane, undivided highways. Title 23 provides that "Highways on the Interstate System in Alaska and Puerto Rico shall be designed in accordance with such geometric and construction standards as are adequate for current and probable future traffic demands and the needs of the locality of the highway." Some portions of these highways are built to Interstate standards, though. The Seward Highway, part of A-3, is built to freeway standards in Anchorage. The Glenn Highway, which is part of A-1, is built to freeway standards from Anchorage to Wasilla. A very small portion of the George Parks Highway, A-4, is constructed to freeway standards in Wasilla. In and around Fairbanks, the Richardson Highway, part of A-2, is constructed to freeway standards. In addition to these highways, the Johansen Expressway, in Fairbanks, and the Minnesota Drive Expressway, in Anchorage, are constructed to expressway standards.
Read more about Interstate Highways In Alaska: Routes, Images of Each Interstate
Famous quotes containing the words interstate and/or highways:
“At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“That is the land of lost content
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)