Whittier Alaska

Whittier Passage Canal Alaska

Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the U.S. state of Alaska, about 58 miles (93 km) southeast of Anchorage. The city is within the Valdez–Cordova Census Area. Whittier is also a port for the Alaska Marine Highway.

After the tunnel expanded access to Whittier, it began to be visited by larger cruise lines. It is the embarkation/debarkation point of one-way cruises from Anchorage to Vancouver by Princess Tours. Whittier is also popular with tourists, photographers, outdoor enthusiasts, paddlers, hikers, sport fishermen, and hunters because of its abundance of wildlife and natural beauty. Whittier is located within the Chugach National Forest, the second-largest national forest in the U.S.

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel

Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel—the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds!

The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be aired out in between trips (with jet turbine ventilation, another first!). This unique design that enables a single lane of traffic to travel directly over the railroad track saved tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new tunnel.

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, often called the Whittier Tunnel after the town at its eastern terminus, is a dual-use ("bimodal") highway and railroad tunnel that passes under Maynard Mountain. At a length of 13,300 ft (4,100 m), it is the second-longest highway tunnel and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America. The tunnel was upgraded to bimodal use by the Kiewit Construction Company between September 1998 and mid-summer 2000.

Directions to Whittier By Road : 

The only land access is through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a mixed-use road and rail tunnel. The town is on the northeast shore of the Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Passage Canal, on the west side of Prince William Sound. It is 58 miles (93 kilometres) southeast of Anchorage.