The Glenn Highway (part of

Alaska Route 1 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 Sewa ...

) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

, extending 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 .

Route description

The longest stretch of

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

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 Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the s ...

, for a total of approximately 38 miles (61 km). This portion of the Glenn Highway is the only road access to Anchorage for most of the state (with the exception of the

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...

on the Seward Highway), and as such is the main traffic corridor for Anchorage's

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

s in the Chugiak-Eagle River and Mat-Su areas. The highest point on the highway is 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was completed to Glennallen as part of a massive program of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

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 Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

fields (the eventual Richardson Highway). The highway was paved in the 1950s.

Paleontology

The "

Talkeetna Mountains Hadrosaur The Matanuska Formation consists of more than of Sedimentary rock, sedimentary Stratum, strata exposed in the northern Chugach Mountains, Matanuska Valley, and southern Talkeetna Mountains of South-Central Alaska. The Matanuska Formation contains ...

" 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

Glenn Highway is part of the unsigned part of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

as Interstate A-1.

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is a department within the government of Alaska. Its headquarters are in Alaska's capital city, Juneau. The mission of Alaska DOT&PF is to "''Keep Alaska Moving through service a ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Routes
, April 2006

Major intersections

Gallery

File:Matanuska Valley ENBLA17.jpg, The Glenn Highway on the right side of the

Matanuska River The Matanuska River ( Dena'ina: ''Ch'atanhtnu''; Ahtna: ''Ts'itonhna’'') is a 75-mile (121 km) long river in Southcentral Alaska, United States. The river drains a broad valley south of the Alaska Range eponymously known as the Matanuska ...

and Kings Mountain at mile 76 (km 123). File:Matglacier.JPG, Matanuska Glacier seen from the Glenn Highway at mile 102 (km 164) File:Gunsight_Mountain_Glenn_Highway_2.jpg,

Gunsight Mountain Gunsight Mountain is a prominent elevation summit located northeast of Palmer in the Talkeetna Mountains of the U.S. state of Alaska. This landmark is set midway between Palmer and Glennallen, with the Glenn Highway traversing the southern base ...

and the Glenn Highway near mile 129 (km 208) File:Glenn Highway and Mount Drum.jpg, Mount Drum and the Glenn Highway near mile 170 (km 274) File:State Fair Winner.jpg,

Granite Peak Mountains named Granite Peak or variations. Canada In Canada, according tNRCan CGNDB United States In the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a ...

from Glenn Highway File:Mt. Wickersham.jpg,

Mount Wickersham Mount Wickersham is a elevation mountain summit located east of Palmer, in the northern Chugach Mountains of the U.S. state of Alaska. This landmark of the Matanuska Valley is set midway between Anchorage and Glennallen, at mile 101 of the Glen ...

and Matanuska Glacier from mile 101 of the highway File:Amulet Peak rising above Matanuska River.jpg, Amulet Peak and Matanuska River at Mile 94

Footnotes

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

A journey down the Glenn Highway

{{Authority control Interstate Highways in Alaska National Scenic Byways State highways in Alaska Transportation in Anchorage, Alaska Transportation in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Transportation in Unorganized Borough, Alaska