Alaska Route 7

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, serving some of the Panhandle communities at which the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop, and connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.

Alaska Route 7
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
junctions
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
junctions
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
junctions
North endDead end in Juneau
Haines Highway segment
Length39.7 mi (63.9 km)
South endFront Street in Haines
North endHaines Highway on the AlaskaBritish Columbia border
Location
BoroughsKetchikan Gateway, Unorganized, Juneau, Haines
Highway system
AK-6 AK-8

Route description

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 segments, but the ferry ports are for most parts not located at the endpoint of each segment, so many of the endpoints are dead ends.

Tongass Highway

The southernmost piece of AK-7 is known as the Tongass Highway, and heads both ways from Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. The ferry service calls at Ketchikan. Within the city of Ketchikan, it's signed as Tongass Avenue from the northern city limits at the airport ferry terminal to the Newtown neighborhood, then continuing through downtown as, successively, Water, Front, Mill and Stedman streets, before becoming the Tongass Highway again after passing Coast Guard Base Ketchikan.

Mitkoff Highway / Nordic Drive

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. The ferry service calls at Petersburg.

Egan Drive / Glacier Highway

Egan Drive, part of AK-7, is the main road through 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 service 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

The final piece of AK-7 begins in downtown Haines, where the ferry service calls, and follows the Haines Highway northwest to the border with British Columbia, Canada. In British Columbia, it continues north as the Haines Highway with no designation, eventually connecting with Yukon Highway 3 (whichs ends at the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory).

Major intersections

Aerial view of Gastineau Channel and Egan Drive looking southerly, showing most of the highway's length between downtown Juneau and Lemon Creek.
North Tongass Highway, looking roughly easterly as it passes through a neighborhood just beyond downtown Ketchikan.
CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Ketchikan GatewayKetchikan0.000.00Dead endBeaver Falls access
15.524.9 Ferry Terminal Road  Ketchikan Ferry TerminalAlaska Marine Highway
Ward Cove31.751.0Dead end
Gap in route
UnorganizedMitkof Island0.000.00Dead end
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
Gap in route
City and Borough of Juneau0.000.00Franklin Street  Downtown, Thane
0.681.09Juneau-Douglas Bridge  Douglas
Vanderbilt Hill Road
Glacier Highway Access RoadInterchange
Mendenhall Loop RoadSouthern terminus of Mendenhall Loop Road
Glacier Highway southAK-7 takes on the Glacier Highway
Mendenhall Loop RoadNorthern terminus of Mendenhall Loop Road; To University of Alaska Southeast
13.1521.16 Ferry Terminal Road  Auke Bay Ferry TerminalAlaska Marine Highway
39.0162.78Dead endBeyond Echo Cove access
Gap in route
HainesHaines0.000.00 Front Street to Haines Ferry Terminal
39.763.9Canada–United States border at Dalton Cache - Pleasant Camp Border Crossing
Hwy 3 north (Haines Highway) Haines JunctionContinuation into British Columbia and eventually the Yukon Territory
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

KML is from Wikidata
  1. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Southern Region General Log, 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
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