Getting around in Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska isn't difficult -- there aren't that many roads. But a few hints can help visitors negotiate the roadways.
Alaska highways are numbered, but you won't find many Alaskans who call them by their highway designations. Names are more important than numbers around here. So here are the names to remember:
• Seward Highway (Highway 1): It connects Anchorage and Seward. It becomes Highway 9 midway through the Kenai Peninsula. And, yes, you do need to drive with your headlights on.
• Sterling Highway (Highway 1): A Kenai Peninsula road to Kenai, Soldotna and Homer. It begins about halfway between Anchorage and Seward.
• Glenn Highway (Highway 1): It connects Anchorage with Palmer and on to Glennallen and Tok.
• Parks Highway (Highway 3): It connects with the Glenn Highway north of Anchorage and runs past Denali National Park to Fairbanks.
• Richardson Highway (Highway 4): It connects Fairbanks and Valdez.
Two of those major highways enter and exit Anchorage. The Seward Highway heads south of town and the Glenn Highway heads north. From the Glenn Highway, motorists can access the Parks Highway and head toward Denali National Park.
In town, a few hints will make travel easier. Many of Anchorage's east-west streets are numbered, starting with First Avenue downtown and getting larger as they move south. Other major east-west streets are Dimond Boulevard, Northern Lights Boulevard, Tudor Road and International Airport Road.
North-south streets in the downtown area are either letters -- A Street is the farthest east -- or named after Alaska towns like Barrow and Cordova. A and C streets are major corridors.
Other major north-south roads include Arctic Boulevard, Old Seward Highway, Minnesota Drive and Muldoon Road.
Anchorage is made up of several communities including Spenard, Muldoon, Midtown and the Hillside. If you're not sure where someone is directing you, just ask.
