The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. It also connects segments of Alaska Route 1 between the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cut-Off. The Richardson Highway was the first major road built in Alaska.

History

[[File:1st car on Richardson Highway 1913.jpg|thumb|The "first car" to travel from Fairbanks to Valdez, 1913. Prospectors heard rumors of this ancient trade route and it encouraged them to explore the Interior to try to find a route to the gold fields in the Klondike area.

In 1885, Lieutenant Henry Allen's party crossed the eastern Alaska Range from the mouth of the Copper River to the Tanana River via Suslota Pass, the first non-natives to do so. In his report, he noted that it would be possible to build a road between Prince William Sound to the Yukon River. They would eventually cross Isabel Pass, who were also the first recorded non-natives through that route, but fell short 15-20 miles from the Tanana River. This pass received very little attention at the time. Travel to the area during the summer was via riverboats. Only a short piece of the Richardson Highway in Fairbanks is built to freeway standards.

Major intersections

<div style="max-width: 450px;">

<gallery mode=slideshow>

File:Alaska Route4-1.jpg|The highway in Keystone Canyon, just north of Valdez

File:Horsetail Falls Alaska 1992.jpeg|Horsetail falls, one of many waterfalls visible as the highway traverses Keystone Canyon

File:Heatpipes.JPG|A buried crossing of the highway by the oil pipeline.

File:Worthington Glacier from Richardson Highway.jpeg|Worthington Glacier seen from the highway

</gallery>

</div>

References

  • Evolution of the Richardson Highway - ExploreNorth
  • A journey down the Richardson Highway ; archive from archive.org