Glenn Highway

This article is about the section of Alaska Route 1 between Anchorage and Glenallen. For the entire route, see Alaska Route 1.

Glenn Highway
Glenn Highway highlighted in red
Route information
Length	179 mi (288 km)
Tourist routes	Glenn Highway
Major junctions
West end	AK-1 (East 5th & 6th Avenues) Anchorage near Merrill Field
East end	AK-1 / AK-4 (Richardson Highway) in Glennallen
Location
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Highway system
Alaska Routes Interstate Scenic Byways

The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending 179 miles (288 km) from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a total length of 328 miles (528 km).

Route description

The longest stretch of freeway in Alaska runs mostly along the Glenn Highway, beginning in north Anchorage, continuing onto the Parks Highway at the interchange of the two roads, and ending in the city limits of Wasilla, for a total of approximately 38 miles (61 km). This 38-mile (61 km) portion of the Glenn Highway is the only road access to Anchorage for most of the state (with the exception of the Kenai Peninsula on the Seward Highway), and as such is the main traffic corridor for Anchorage's suburbs in the Chugiak-Eagle River and Mat-Su areas. The highest point on the highway is 3,332 feet (1,016 m) at Eureka Summit, which sits on the divide between the Chugach and Talkeetna mountain ranges.

History

The highway originated as the Palmer Road in the 1930s, to reach the agricultural colony at Palmer. During World War II it was completed to Glennallen as part of a massive program of military road and base building that also resulted in the Alaska Highway, and connected Anchorage to the continental highway system.

It is named for Captain Edwin Glenn (1857–1926), leader of an 1898 U.S. Army expedition to find an Alaska route to the Klondike gold fields (the eventual Richardson Highway). The highway was paved in the 1950s.

Paleontology

The "Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur" specimen was discovered in 1994 in a quarry being excavated for road material. That fall, excavation began, and was resumed in the summer of 1996. The quarry is near the Glenn Highway, approximately 150 miles northeast of Anchorage. This specimen was the first associated skeleton of an individual dinosaur discovered in all of Alaska.

Interstate Highway System

See also: List of Interstate Highways in Alaska, Richardson Highway, Tok Cut-Off, and Alaska Highway

Interstate A-1
Location	Palmer to Fairbanks
Length	323.69 mi (520.93 km)
Existed	1976–present

Glenn Highway is part of the unsigned part of the Interstate Highway System as Interstate A-1.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Municipality of Anchorage		1.2	1.9	Airport Heights Drive	Western terminus of freeway. Roadway continues west as 5th Avenue.
		1.7	2.7	Bragaw Street
		3.0	4.8	Boniface Parkway
		3.4	5.5	Turpin Street	Eastbound exit and entrance
		4.2	6.8	Muldoon Road
		6.1	9.8	Arctic Valley Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		7.5	12.1	D Street
		11.6	18.7	Eagle River Loop Road
		13.4	21.6	Artillery Road
		15.5	24.9	Eklutna Park Drive
		17.2	27.7	South Birchwood Loop Road
		20.9	33.6	North Birchwood Loop Road
		21.5	34.6	Voyles Boulevard
		23.0	37.0	Lake Hill Drive
		24	39	Paradis Lane
		25.2	40.6	Old Glenn Highway	Eastbound entrance and exit
		26.5	42.6	Eklutna Village Road
		29.6	47.6	Old Glenn Highway
Matanuska-Susitna	Knik River			SFC James Bondsteel Bridge of Honor across the Knik River
		30.6	49.2	Knik River Access
	Gateway	34	55	AK-3 north (George Parks Highway) – Wasilla, Fairbanks
		35.8	57.6	Northern end of freeway
	Palmer	35.8	57.6	Palmer-Wasilla Highway
Unorganized	Glennallen	179	288	AK-1 / AK-4 (Richardson Highway) – Valdez, Tok
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

Gallery

• 
  The Glenn Highway on the right side of the Matanuska River and Kings Mountain at mile 76 (km 123).
• 
  Matanuska Glacier seen from the Glenn Highway at mile 102 (km 164)
• 
  Gunsight Mountain and the Glenn Highway near mile 129 (km 208)
• 
  Mount Drum and the Glenn Highway near mile 170 (km 274)
• 
  Granite Peak from Glenn Highway
• 
  Mount Wickersham and Matanuska Glacier from mile 101 of the highway
• 
  Amulet Peak and Matanuska River at Mile 94

References

• Pasch, A. D., K. C. May. 2001. Taphonomy and paleoenvironment of hadrosaur (Dinosauria) from the Matanuska Formation (Turonian) in South-Central Alaska. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Ed.s Tanke, D. H., Carpenter, K., Skrepnick, M. W. Indiana University Press. Pages 219–236.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Glenn Highway

KML is from Wikidata

Media related to Glenn Highway at Wikimedia Commons

• A journey down the Glenn Highway Archived 2011-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Alaska 101 Glenn Highway Archived 2010-09-15 at the Wayback Machine