Sterling Highway Explained

State:AK
Type:AK
Route:1
Sterling Highway
Map Custom:yes
Map Notes:Sterling Highway highlighted in red
Length Mi:132
Established:1950
Direction A:South
Terminus A: Alaska Marine Highway in Homer
Direction B:North
Terminus B: in Chugach National Forest

The Sterling Highway is a 138adj=midNaNadj=mid state highway in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Alaska, leading from the Seward Highway at Tern Lake Junction, south of Anchorage, to Homer.

Route description

Construction of the highway began in 1947 and was completed in 1950. The Sterling Highway is part of Alaska Route 1. It leads mainly west from Tern Lake to Soldotna, paralleling the Kenai River, at which point it turns south to follow the eastern shore of Cook Inlet. It is the only highway in the western and central Kenai Peninsula, and most of the population of the Kenai Peninsula Borough lives near it. The highway also gives access to many extremely popular fishing and recreation areas, including the Chugach National Forest, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and the Kenai, Funny, and Russian rivers. The southern end of the highway is at the tip of the Homer Spit, a landspit extending 4.5miles into Kachemak Bay. A ferry terminal here connects the road to the Alaska Marine Highway.

Interstate Highway System

See also: List of Interstate Highways in Alaska and Seward Highway.

State:AK
Type:I
Route:3
Location:Soldotna to Anchorage
Length Mi:238.38
Formed:1976

Sterling Highway is part of the unsigned part of the Interstate Highway System as Interstate A-3.[1] [2]

Major intersections

Mileposts on the Sterling Highway begin with Mile 37 (60 km), continuing from the mileposts of the Seward Highway. (The 0 (zero) mile marker for the Seward Highway is in downtown Seward, at the intersection of 3rd and Railway Avenues. Thus, mileposts along the Sterling Highway reflect distance from Seward, which is not actually on the Sterling Highway.

Notes and References

  1. [Federal Highway Administration]
  2. [Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities]