Talk:Richardson Highway

SAFETEA-LU

I removed (bolded!) language saying it was "all" of Alaska Route 2, since the High Priority Corridor list itself says Corridor 67 only goes as far as Fairbanks, but note List of Alaska Routes; the Elliott and part of the Steese are also numbered 2 and they aren't included in that definition. Kind of pedantic but that's all too long for an edit summary. —Zero Gravitas 03:13, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Four-Laned

The stretch of the Richardson Highway that is four lanes south from Fairbanks extends to just south of the main gate to Eielson Air Force Base. I would say that to most local residents Eielson is a better landmark for the southern end of the four-lane stretch than "Salcha," since the area known as Salcha actually entends for many miles south from Eielson to about the area of Harding Lake. Travelers on the Richardson Highway through this area cannot possibly miss Eielson. McGehee (talk) 16:22, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Southbound, the 4 lane divided highway ends at a point immediately past the old entrance to EAFB. A few years back, EAFB moved their main gate, presumably in pursuit of the post-9/11 agenda of the U.S. government. The at-grade intersection was replaced with a partial interchange roughly a half-mile to the north. The terminus of the 4 lane highway remained the same. Southbound, once you're on the 2 lane, you pass adjacent to the flightline of EAFB for several miles before you get to the northern limits of Salcha, so it wouldn't be correct in any way to make mention of Salcha as its terminus.

On this same subject, I flagged as dubious the statement that the 4 lane highway came about only in the 1990s. Aerial photos taken during the 1967 flood show a 4 lane divided highway, at least on the Fairbanks end. I was gone from Fairbanks for most of the 1990s, so I can't speak from personal recollection. I do believe that the 1990s was when the first interchange was built, that being the one in the city of North Pole (2nd Badger Road/Santa Claus Lane). I can speak from personal experience that the current 4 lane terminating at EAFB has been there for at least a few decades.RadioKAOS (talk) 01:29, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

RadioKAOS is correct. I distinctly remember riding on the 4-lane in the winter of 1976-77 to pick up my date for the Lathrop Senior Prom, so it was a 4-lane as far as the North Pole area (and probably as far as Moose Creek-Eielson) no later than the 1966 construction season. But as I understand the Wikipedia rules, it is improper to add a statement in an article unless it can be referenced to an online secondary source. I don't have one yet, so I guess the article can't be corrected yet either. Terry Thorgaard (talk) 00:37, 3 December 2014 (UTC). The "dubious" statement that the 4-lane dates from the '90s indeed stems from the fact that interchanges were constructed in that time period. There is also one that connects Badger Road with the Richardson at the western end of Badger (next to the edge of Ft. Wainwright), which was also added in the '90s. Terry Thorgaard (talk) 00:46, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Our family was stationed at Eielson in both the early and late '70s; we lived at North Pole from 1978-1984 and then in Salcha. The Richardson was two-lane (undivided) during the 1970-1973 tour, but was pretty much a brand new four lane divided highway when we arrived on base in 1977; the speed limit was 70 MPH as President Carter's national speed limit of 55 MPH had not yet been applied. The highway was four-lane from Fairbanks to maybe two hundred yards past the then Eielson gate. Our home in North Pole was accessed via Laurence Road, and there was an interchange with the Richardson there a few miles south of the North Pole (Blanket Boulevard) interchange. We left Alaska in 1994, and haven't been back since; although I recognize the surname [McGehee] and know them from the North Pole/Chena Hot Springs area, went to school with some, and know they are credible. J King Johnnyrev (talk) 20:48, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Interstate Highway?

If this highway is part of the Interstate Highway System, shouldn't it be added to the article? Allen (Morriswa) (talk) 23:48, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Alaska highways aren't "technically" interstates since they aren't connected to the US Interstate system, so they are considered differently by the government. However, they have been granted the same status for Federal funding purposes only. This became an issue when the Feds raised the drinking age to 21; the drinking age in Alaska was 19, Alaska raised their drinking age to keep receiving Federal highway funds. I was grandfathered in since I was 19 and enjoyed it for a year. Unfortunately for me I enlisted at age 20 and had to wait another year to get my privileges back. Johnnyrev (talk) 20:56, 9 April 2020 (UTC)