A-1

About A-1

From Anchorage area to Tok area

Interstate A-1 is the longest of Alaska's four Interstate routes, an unsigned highway of roughly 408 miles that runs from Anchorage to the Canadian border. It follows a chain of existing Alaska highways, including the Glenn Highway out of Anchorage, the Tok Cut-Off, and segments of the Richardson and Alaska highways, to reach the international boundary in the interior of the state.

Like all of the Alaska Interstates, A-1 is not marked with the familiar red, white, and blue shield, and travelers know it only by the names of the underlying highways rather than by its Interstate designation. Most of the corridor is rural and consists of two-lane undivided road built to ordinary highway standards rather than full freeway specifications, although portions within the Anchorage area are built to higher standards.

The route exists chiefly to make Alaska's primary road network eligible for federal Interstate funding. It ties the state's largest city to the highway connection toward Canada and the rest of North America, serving as the main land corridor out of southcentral Alaska.

State-by-state mileage

State	Miles
Alaska	408.2
Total	408.2

History

Alaska's Interstate routes, including A-1, were designated in 1976 as part of an arrangement that allowed the state's key highways to receive Interstate construction and maintenance aid without being signed as Interstates. The designation overlaid numbers onto roads that already existed rather than creating new alignments.

Major cities and places

Did you know

• It is the longest of the four Alaska Interstate routes.
• It is unsigned and is known only by the names of the highways it follows.
• It was designated in 1976 for federal funding eligibility.
• It follows the Glenn, Tok Cut-Off, Richardson, and Alaska highways toward Canada.
• Much of it is rural two-lane road rather than a full freeway.