The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, 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 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 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 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.

Major intersections

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File:Matanuska Valley ENBLA17.jpg|The Glenn Highway on the right side of the Matanuska River 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 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 from Glenn Highway

File:Mt. Wickersham.jpg|Mount Wickersham 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

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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.
  • A journey down the Glenn Highway
  • Alaska 101 Glenn Highway