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.

Alaska Route 7 marker
Alaska Route 7
Map
Route 7 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Alaska DOT&PF
Length144.62 mi[1] (232.74 km)
144.62 mi (in four sections)
Component
highways
  • South Tongass Highway
  • North Tongass Highway
  • Mitkof Highway
  • Nordic Drive
  • Egan Drive
  • Old Glacier Highway (Out the road)
  • Haines Highway
Tongass Highway segment
Length37.1 mi (59.7 km)
South endDead end near Ketchikan
Major intersections Alaska Marine Highway in Ketchikan
North endDead end near Ward Cove
Mitkof Highway segment
Length34.21 mi (55.06 km)
South endDead end on Mitkof Island
Major intersections Alaska Marine Highway in Petersburg
North endSandy Beach Road in Petersburg
Egan Drive / Glacier Highway segment
Length39.01 mi (62.78 km)
South endFranklin Street in Juneau
Major intersections
North endDead end in Juneau
Haines Highway segment
Length39.7 mi (63.9 km)
South endFront Street in Haines
North end Hwy 3 on the AlaskaBritish Columbia border
Location
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
BoroughsKetchikan Gateway, Unorganized, Juneau, Haines
Highway system
AK-6 AK-8

Route description

edit

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.

Tongass Highway

edit

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.

Mitkoff Highway / Nordic Drive

edit

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 / Glacier Highway

edit

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]

Haines Highway

edit

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).

Major intersections

edit
 
Aerial view of Gastineau Channel and Egan Drive facing south, showing most of the part of the highway which is between downtown Juneau and Lemon Creek
 
North Tongass Highway, roughly looking east as it passes through a neighborhood just beyond downtown Ketchikan
BoroughLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Ketchikan Gateway0.000.00Dead endBeaver Falls access; southern terminus of AK-7/Tongass Highway
Ketchikan15.524.9  Ferry Terminal Road — Ketchikan Ferry TerminalAlaska Marine Highway
Ward Cove31.751.0Dead endNorthern terminus of Tongass Highway
Gap in route
UnorganizedMitkof Island0.000.00Dead endSouthern terminus of Mitkof Highway
Petersburg32.2151.84  Ferry Terminal Road — Petersburg Ferry TerminalAlaska Marine Highway
34.2155.06Sandy Beach Road eastNordic Drive turns east and becomes Sandy Beach Road; northern terminus of Mitkof Highway
Gap in route
City and Borough of Juneau0.000.00Franklin Street — Downtown, ThaneSouthern terminus of Egan Drive
0.681.09Juneau-Douglas Bridge — Douglas
Glacier Highway Access RoadInterchange
Glacier Highway southAK-7 north overlaps Glacier Highway
13.1521.16  Ferry Terminal Road — Auke Bay Ferry TerminalAlaska Marine Highway
39.0162.78Dead endBeyond Echo Cove access; northern terminus of Glacier Highway
Gap in route
HainesHaines0.000.00  Front Street to Haines Ferry TerminalTo Alaska Marine Highway; southern terminus of Haines Highway
Canada–United States border39.763.9Dalton Cache - Pleasant Camp Border Crossing
Haines Highway northContinuation into British Columbia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

edit
KML is from Wikidata
  1. ^ a b Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Southern Region General Log[permanent dead link], 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))
  2. ^ Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, January 17, 2003
  3. ^ Google Maps street maps, accessed August 2007
  4. ^ American Automobile Association Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1995
  5. ^ Gousha Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1996
  6. ^ Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1998
  7. ^ MapQuest.com, Inc., National Geographic Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 2001
  8. ^ Juneau Access cut from state budget. James Brooks. Juneau Empire, 16 December 2016