Recently, I was fueling my car when I was asked by a visitor driving a car rental how to get to highway #1. I clearly looked confused and responded with, “well, where are you going to?” Having lived in Alaska for over 40 years, I have never learned all of the official highway number designations. Never less, after the visitor from Germany responded saying “Alyeska”, I was able to explain how to reach Alyeska, based on navigational directions and street names not highway number. In this case, highway #1 in south-central Alaska is called the Seward Highway which starts in Anchorage and ends in Seward. In other parts of the Alaska, Highway #1 may refered to as the the Alaska, Sterling, or Glenn Highway.
And I’m not alone, when visiting Alaska you’ll quickly realize that asking for directions by highway number is a futile effort as most residents of Alaska don’t know what Highway number they live nearest. To help you prepare for your trip to Alaska, I”ll provide a brief summary of Alaska’s primary highways, by popular name, that most visitors to Alaska may expect travel on if starting their trip in Anchorage. (more…)