Alaska Route 7
Alaska Route 7 (abbreviated as AK-7) is a state highway in the Alaska Panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It consists of four unconnected pieces, serving some of the Panhandle communities at which the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop, and connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.
Alaska Route 7 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by Alaska DOT&PF | ||||
Length | 144.62 mi[1] (232.74 km) 144.62 mi (in four sections) | |||
Component highways |
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Tongass Highway segment | ||||
Length | 37.1 mi (59.7 km) | |||
South end | Dead end near Ketchikan | |||
Major intersections | Alaska Marine Highway in Ketchikan | |||
North end | Dead end near Ward Cove | |||
Mitkof Highway segment | ||||
Length | 34.21 mi (55.06 km) | |||
South end | Dead end on Mitkof Island | |||
Major intersections | Alaska Marine Highway in Petersburg | |||
North end | Sandy Beach Road in Petersburg | |||
Egan Drive / Glacier Highway segment | ||||
Length | 39.01 mi (62.78 km) | |||
South end | Franklin Street in Juneau | |||
Major intersections |
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North end | Dead end in Juneau | |||
Haines Highway segment | ||||
Length | 39.7 mi (63.9 km) | |||
South end | Front Street in Haines | |||
North end | Hwy 3 on the Alaska–British Columbia border | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Alaska | |||
Boroughs | Ketchikan Gateway, Unorganized, Juneau, Haines | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Route description
According to Alaska's supplement to the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, AK-7 follows (from south to north):[2]
- South Tongass Highway, North Tongass Highway (Ketchikan)
- Nordic Drive, Mitkoff Highway (Petersburg)
- Glacier Highway, Egan Drive (Juneau)
- Haines Highway, Haines to Border
No other segments are shown on maps.[3][4][5][6][7]
The Alaska Marine Highway ferry service connect the segments, but the ferry ports are for most parts not located at the endpoint of each segment, so many of the endpoints are dead ends.
Tongass Highway
The southernmost piece of AK-7 is known as the Tongass Highway, and heads both ways from Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. The ferry service calls at Ketchikan. Within the city of Ketchikan, it's signed as Tongass Avenue from the northern city limits at the airport ferry terminal to the Newtown neighborhood, then continuing through downtown as, successively, Water, Front, Mill and Stedman streets, before becoming the Tongass Highway again after passing Coast Guard Base Ketchikan.
Mitkoff Highway / Nordic Drive
Another section of AK-7 is the Mitkoff Highway, traveling south from Petersburg to the southeast point of Mitkof Island. AK-7 also includes the short Nordic Drive, connecting the Mitkoff Highway to the north point of the island. The ferry service calls at Petersburg.
Egan Drive / Glacier Highway
Egan Drive, part of AK-7, is the main road through Juneau, replacing the Glacier Highway from downtown Juneau to near the Juneau International Airport. Beyond the airport, AK-7 continues along the Glacier Highway past Auke Bay to its northernmost point near Berners Bay. The extreme southern end of Egan Drive is known as Marine Way. The ferry service calls at Auke Bay. There were plans to extend the road north of Berners Bay as the Lynn Canal Highway; however, the project has been indefinitely shelved due to the state's budget crisis.[8]
Haines Highway
The final piece of AK-7 begins in downtown Haines, where the ferry service calls, and follows the Haines Highway northwest to the border with British Columbia, Canada. In British Columbia, it continues north as the Haines Highway with no designation, eventually connecting with Yukon Highway 3 (which ends at the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory).
Major intersections
Borough | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
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Ketchikan Gateway | | 0.00 | 0.00 | Dead end | Beaver Falls access; southern terminus of AK-7/Tongass Highway | ||
Ketchikan | 15.5 | 24.9 | Ferry Terminal Road — Ketchikan Ferry Terminal | Alaska Marine Highway | |||
Ward Cove | 31.7 | 51.0 | Dead end | Northern terminus of Tongass Highway | |||
Gap in route | |||||||
Unorganized | Mitkof Island | 0.00 | 0.00 | Dead end | Southern terminus of Mitkof Highway | ||
Petersburg | 32.21 | 51.84 | Ferry Terminal Road — Petersburg Ferry Terminal | Alaska Marine Highway | |||
34.21 | 55.06 | Sandy Beach Road east | Nordic Drive turns east and becomes Sandy Beach Road; northern terminus of Mitkof Highway | ||||
Gap in route | |||||||
City and Borough of Juneau | 0.00 | 0.00 | Franklin Street — Downtown, Thane | Southern terminus of Egan Drive | |||
0.68 | 1.09 | Juneau-Douglas Bridge — Douglas | |||||
Glacier Highway Access Road | Interchange | ||||||
Glacier Highway south | AK-7 north overlaps Glacier Highway | ||||||
13.15 | 21.16 | Ferry Terminal Road — Auke Bay Ferry Terminal | Alaska Marine Highway | ||||
39.01 | 62.78 | Dead end | Beyond Echo Cove access; northern terminus of Glacier Highway | ||||
Gap in route | |||||||
Haines | Haines | 0.00 | 0.00 | Front Street to Haines Ferry Terminal | To Alaska Marine Highway; southern terminus of Haines Highway | ||
Canada–United States border | 39.7 | 63.9 | Dalton Cache - Pleasant Camp Border Crossing | ||||
Haines Highway north | Continuation into British Columbia | ||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
References
- Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Southern Region General Log, April 25, 2006 (Routes 291400 (South Tongass Highway), 291500 (North Tongass Highway), 294000 (Mitkof Highway), 294020 (Nordic Drive), 296000 (Glacier Highway/Egan Drive), and 298000 (Haines Highway))
- Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, January 17, 2003
- Google Maps street maps, accessed August 2007
- American Automobile Association Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1995
- Gousha Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1996
- Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1998
- MapQuest.com, Inc., National Geographic Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 2001
- Juneau Access cut from state budget. James Brooks. Juneau Empire, 16 December 2016