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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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 which serve some of the Panhandle communities. The Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop in the cities connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2012) |
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 sections, but for the most parts the ports are not located at the endpoint of each segment; thus many of the endpoints are dead ends.
The southernmost piece of AK-7 is known as the Tongass Highway and heads both ways from Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. The ferry calls at Ketchikan. Within the city of Ketchikan, it is named Tongass Avenue from the northern city limits at the airport ferry terminal to the Newtown neighborhood. Continuing downtown it is successively Water, Front, Mill and Stedman streets, becoming the Tongass Highway again after passing Coast Guard Base Ketchikan.
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. Petersburg has a ferry terminal.
Egan Drive which is part of AK-7, is the main road in 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 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]
The final piece of AK-7 begins in downtown Haines, another ferry stop; it follows the Haines Highway northwest to the border with British Columbia, Canada. In BC, 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).
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 |
Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of southeast Alaska is situated in Tlingit Aaní, much of which is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild, rainy climate.
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau, is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alaska, located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. On July 1, 1970, the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current consolidated city-borough, which ranks as the second-largest municipality in the United States by area and is larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
Ketchikan is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District.
Petersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in and essentially the borough seat of Petersburg Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 3,043 at the 2020 census, up from 2,948 in 2010.
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at 16.7 million acres. Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service, encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords and glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains. An international border with Canada runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The forest is administered from Forest Service offices in Ketchikan. There are local ranger district offices located in Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, and Yakutat.
The Mendenhall Valley is the drainage area of the Mendenhall River in the U.S. state of Alaska. The valley contains a series of neighborhoods, comprising the largest populated place within the corporate limits of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska's capital.
The University of Alaska Southeast is a public university with its main campus in Juneau, Alaska and extended campuses in Sitka and Ketchikan. It is part of the University of Alaska System and was established on July 1, 1987, with the restructuring and consolidation of the former University of Alaska Juneau, Ketchikan Community College, and Islands Community College (Sitka). The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
The Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska.
The Haines Highway or Haines Cut-Off is a highway that connects Haines, Alaska, in the United States, with Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada, passing through the province of British Columbia. It follows the route of the old Dalton Trail from the port of Haines inland for about 180 km (110 mi) to Klukshu, Yukon, and then continues to Haines Junction. The highway is about 244 km (152 mi) long, of which 72 km (45 mi) is in Alaska.
MV Fairweather is a catamaran ferry built by Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut for the Alaska Marine Highway System entering service 2004. After being laid up since 2019, in March 2021 it was sold to Servicios y Concesiones Maritimas Ibicencas for service between Mallorca and Menorca.
MV Malaspina, colloquially known as the Mal, is a mainline ROPAX ferry and the original Malaspina-class vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Malaspina is named after the Malaspina Glacier, which, in turn, is named after Captain Don Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian navigator and explorer who explored the northwest coast of North America in 1791. Malaspina is nearly identical to her sister ship, MV Matanuska.
MV Matanuska, colloquially known as the Mat, is a mainline Malaspina-class ferry vessel operated by the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The M/V Columbia is a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
MV Lituya is a shuttle ferry operated by the Alaska Marine Highway System. Her route connects Metlakatla on Annette Island to Ketchikan.
M/V Stikine is a ferry operated by the Inter-Island Ferry Authority. Her regular route is between Ketchikan and Hollis, in Southeast Alaska.
The Lynn Canal Highway, or Juneau Access Road, is a proposed road between Skagway and City and Borough of Juneau, the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska. Such a road, if built, would still require ferry access to connect Juneau to the Alaskan highway network. The new road would be 47.9 miles long, built at an estimated cost of $574 million, and be a part of Alaska Route 7. The plan of the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) called for extending "The Road" northward from Juneau to a ferry terminal 18 miles south of Skagway. The corridor crosses Berners Bay LUD II which is a congressionally designated roadless area created by the Tongass Timber Reform Act (TTRA). The act permits crossing LUD IIs when the governor of the State of Alaska designates routes as essential transportation corridors. The proposed road skirts the shore of a northwestern section of Alaska's Inside Passage, which was recently named a National Scenic Waterway. As of 2017, the project has been indefinitely shelved due to the state's budget crisis.
Auke Bay is a neighborhood located in the city and borough of Juneau, Alaska, that contains Auke Bay Harbor, Auke Lake, the University of Alaska Southeast, an elementary school, a church, a post office, a bar, a coffee shop, a waffle house, a thrift shop, a Thai restaurant, and one convenience store.
The Capital Transit System is the public transportation agency that serves the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska. Owned by the municipality, it operates eight bus routes - three of which are labeled as the "Core Service" and run seven days a week with the remaining five running as limited weekday connector. express, or commuter services. Although CTS previously operated routes that offered complete flag stop service along their entire route, routing changes that took place in November 2022 coinciding with the opening of the Mendenhall Valley Transit Center eliminated those routes. In areas where there are no signed bus stops, patrons can still flag down the bus in any location where it is safe for the bus to pull over.
MV Tazlina is a ferry operated by the Alaska Marine Highway System. It began serving Southeast Alaska Communities in 2019.