Talk:Seward Highway/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Viridiscalculus (talk · contribs) 18:56, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

I reviewed this article and I found many issues in which it is deficient. However, the most significant one was that the History section is not detailed enough and is missing information about a great deal of this highway's history. Because the History does not sufficiently address the main aspects of the topic (Good Article criterion 3a), and I do not think you are going to be able to do the research and rewrite the section within a week, I am going to fail the review. I put together a list of concerns for you to address in all sections of the article. Once you have expanded the History and made the following improvements, you are welcome to nominate this article again. I will check this review periodically to address any questions you might have about the improvements I suggested.  VC  00:06, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Infobox

• There should be a browse at the bottom for AK-1 in addition to AK-9.

Hatnote

• Instead of simply providing a link, the hatnote should mention Seward Highway is a subset of AK-1 and offer a wikilink to the AK-1 article.

Lead

• "At the junction with the Sterling Highway, AK-1 turns west towards Sterling and Homer." Just as with the Route description, the RD summary should be explained south to north or west to east if possible. So this section should say something like "At Tern Lake Junction, Seward Highway becomes part of AK-1; AK-1 continues south toward Sterling and Homer as the Sterling Highway." However you rewrite it, be sure to be clear that the Sterling Highway is part of AK-1.

Route description

Mini-Lead

• I do not think the sentence about STRAHNET is necessary. Also, the details and quotes about Alaska Interstates should probably be included in the Interstate Highways in Alaska article; it seems excessive putting it in here. Saying Interstate A-1 is unsigned may cause confusion because part of Seward Highway is AK-1. Also, A-1 is incorrect; AK-1 south of Anchorage is Interstate A-3.

• "In 2010, 2,520 vehicles used the highway near the junction with Sterling Highway in a measure of the annual average daily traffic," Rewrite as "In 2010, the portion of the highway just south of the junction with Sterling Highway had an annual average daily traffic of 2,520 vehicles,"

Seward to Bear Creek

• I would change the subsection headers to "Seward to Tern Lake Junction" and "Tern Lake Junction to Anchorage." This would balance the section and provides a logical dividing point between the subsection, that being the major junction of AK-1 and AK-9.

• Any mention of a place being in Alaska, such as "Seward, Alaska," is unnecessary because the whole route is in Alaska. Make sure to pipe your links properly and, at most, only link to the same thing once within each major section.

• "less than 100 yards (91 m) from the Gulf of Alaska" Unless you can reference this, take this out.

• "The Seward Highway is designated as AK-9 at this point of the route." Take this out. The route designations should be mentioned in the Lead.

• According to the satellite maps, the highway has a center turn lane through much of Seward. Mention the start and endpoints of that.

• Instead of "railroad tracks belonging to the Alaska Railroad" just say Alaska Railroad because it is the main line. According to the satellite maps, the highway begins paralleling the tracks before leaving Seward. You should mention in the Route description every time the highway begins to parallel or diverge from the tracks instead of giving the railroad details for the whole Seward-Anchorage route in the same paragraph.

• What is the body of water the highway crosses at the north end of Seward? Which stream does the highway follow north from Bear Creek?

Chugach National Forest

• "The highway enters Chugach while it is still part of the Bear Creek community, so it gives the appearance of still being inside the CDP. After a mile or so (1.6 km), though, the area surrounding the highway begins to look more like a national forest." Eliminate this sentence because it is a reference to what a person looking at a map sees. Describe the road, not how a map shows the road. The phrase "look more like a national forest" is subjective and should be tossed.

• "The Alaska Railroad weaves back and forth under the highway, which causes the highway to become a series of small bridges." Simplify to "The highway crosses over the Alaska Railroad multiple times."

• "For a few miles after the bridges, the Seward Highway is a four-lane road, but then merges into two." Please clarify where the highway expands using a different landmark than the bridges because the bridges are not terribly notable.

• Mention the stream the highway crosses just south of Primrose Lake.

• "The road continues, passing along Upper Trail Lake for a few miles, before peeling off and returning to the dense forest, and passing a large mountain range." First of all, the highway starts heading west while passing along the lake. This is a very important detail to include. Name the mountain range.

• Mention the junction between AK-1 and AK-9 is a wye intersection that includes a sweeping one-way ramp that carries AK-1 southbound.

• Briefly explain the significance of Summit Lake. What does the highway summit?

• Mention the names of the mountain ranges, the directions the highway runs, and the streams it follows.

• "After about eight miles (13 km)" This is one of several places where you mention a mileage but the landmark from which it is measured is not mentioned. If you cannot mention a specific point, remove these mileages.

• "The roadway continues though forest for a brief period, and again enters the mountains." This sentence is almost meaningless. The highway runs through a mountainous national forest.

• Mention the body of water the highway crosses at the junction with Portage Glacier Highway. Also mention where the highway crosses the boundary between Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Municipality of Anchorage.

Girdwood to Anchorage

• This applies to all parts of the Route description. If a junction is included in the Major intersections table, it should be mentioned in the Route description. For example, Alyeska Highway is not mentioned at all in the Route description.

• "skiing village of Bird" Citation needed.

• "The Seward Highway passes along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska" You have the wrong body of water.

• "The highway then proceeds to enter the city limits of Anchorage." This is also wrong: Anchorage is a borough-level municipality. Instead, you should say the highway leaves the state park and enters the populated area of Anchorage. Also mention how the highway veers away from the water and the Alaska Railroad.

• Use the term interchanges instead of exits. The freeway connections include both exits and entrances. Also, mention the type of interchanges, such as partial cloverleaf and diamond, and the roads with which the highway has interchanges. You can also mention there are several ramps to and from the frontage roads, which you should name.

• According to the DOT&PF traffic data document, Seward Highway officially ends at 20th Street. However, you say in the Route description it ends at 5th Street. The mileage figure is for the 20th Street intersection. Please find the mileage for the segment between 20th and 5th Streets so the mileage figures are correct.

• "The Seward Highway officially reaches its northern terminus at an intersection with 5th Avenue. AK-1 continues on for a short period as 5th Avenue, before becoming known as the Glenn Highway." These sentences contradict each other.

• There are paragraphs of this Route description that are not referenced at all.

History

• There is no information on the portion of the highway between the junction with Hope Highway (Hope is not actually on the highway) and Anchorage. There is no information on when the freeway in Anchorage was built. These are very important details.

• The second paragraph makes the History look more comprehensive than it really is. That information should really be in the Route description mini-lead. It is fine to include the designation dates in the Route description. The last sentence is redundant with what is already in (or should be in) the mini-lead.

U.S. Bicycle Route 97

• Condense and move the content of this section to the RD mini-lead.

Major intersections

• AK-9 is included and wikilinked; it should not be for two reasons. One, AK-9 south is the route that has been covered previously in the table and it terminates at the junction. Two, AK-9 redirects to this article.

• Old Seward Highway is wikilinked to AK-1. That is wrong.

• The last line of the table (East 5th Avenue) needs to mention that AK-1 continues east on 5th Avenue.

See also

• This section is unnecessary because both of these things are already linked in the infobox.

References

• Reference 13 is the same as reference 4.

Images

• The images appear to be properly licensed. The captions should be reviewed for correctness and providing worthwhile information. For instance, in the second image, name the mountain range instead of saying "a snow-capped mountain range." The third image includes Gulf of Alaska, which is wrong.

---

I will provide my own comments, not only in regards to the article itself, but to attempt to address questions brought up during the review. I made the first comments on the article's talk page in response to the recent article improvements. My very first sentence stated "Too much like a travel guide." It's not sufficiently far enough beyond that. Major issues that I see are as follows:

• There are weigh stations along the highway, yet there is no mention whatsoever of the impact of commercial vehicle traffic on the highway. Since the Alaska Transportation Commission was abolished by a voter initiative in 1984, commercial vehicle regulation and enforcement has been largely decentralized, scatter-shot and in response to federal mandates. Even in spite of that, surely there is some information to be had somewhere on this topic. What about seasonal load limits (i.e. spring breakup)? That should be easy enough to establish.
• The highway paralleling Turnagain Arm, pretty much the entire stretch between Potter and Portage, has been a major accident magnet, going back at least to the mid 1970s that I'm personally aware of. The late 1980s improvements to this stretch perhaps exacerbated the problem more than anything, as it made the highway more inviting to the uninitiated while remaining a winding, two-lane road. RVs stopping or slowing down in the road to take pictures of Dall sheep on the cliffs above, among other sightseeing opportunities, have been the cause of numerous accidents. There are signs along this stretch of road commanding motorists to pull over if they have five or more vehicles behind them for this very reason. The Anchorage Daily News had a headline story in a Sunday edition not all that long ago specifically focusing on this stretch of road. They didn't have to go back very far at all to write a story which filled several pages, detailing numerous serious, including fatal, accidents. I was hoping I could provide a link, but there are just far too many stories on the ADN website about accidents on the highway to pinpoint this story without taking a lot of time doing so. (ADDENDUM: I decided to search the ADN website anyway to provide a sample listing of headlines related to accidents along this stretch. I'm pretty sure this is the story I refer to above: Halpin, James (August 9, 2009). "A cry for a safer highway". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved May 7, 2012. The stretch of Seward Highway from Potter Marsh to just south of Girdwood has killed 98 people since 1977. Passing lanes have been added, troopers' presence has increased and the stretch was named a safety corridor in 2006. But still the death toll rises, including a rash of deaths this summer...So far, eight people have died on the highway since May -- two of those deaths took place in Anchorage. The rest were killed on the winding road between Potter Marsh and Turnagain Pass..RadioKAOS (talk) 13:03, 11 May 2012 (UTC))
  • This stretch of highway has also been subject to frequent avalanche danger, including the deaths of workers in attempting to clear the road of avalanche debris. Girdwood radio station KEUL began as a pirate radio station. Its existence in that capacity was nonetheless endorsed by the trooper who headed AST's Girdwood post at the time, who stated that it was the best way to communicate emergency closure information to Seward Highway travelers, including and particularly those traveling between Anchorage and Girdwood to visit Alyeska Resort.
  • Also pertaining to this stretch of road would be the damage sustained during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. That article contains the following text, unreferenced: "About 20 miles (32 km) of the Seward Highway sank below the high-water mark of Turnagain Arm; the highway and its bridges were raised and rebuilt in 1964-66." There are/were photos available on the USGS website which show the damaged highway.
• Similarly, the stretch near the Hope Highway junction, known as the Canyon Creek section for the creek it crossed just past the junction northbound, had a history of being particularly treacherous and prone to accidents. That section, including the bridge, was rebuilt several years ago. That it is no longer an issue does not mean it should escape mention. In particular, this is where the article could use mention of specifics, rather than repeated variations of little more than "the highway passes through mountains and forest."
• No mention whatsoever of the Seward Highway to Glenn Highway Connection. The recent plan was championed by Mark Begich while mayor of Anchorage and largely abandoned once he left for the U.S. Senate. It's currently officially dead. Even in spite of that, there is a history which intertwines with the history of this highway. As articles on and related to the road to Nome, the bridges to nowhere and numerous other topics have proven, that history hasn't been properly represented on Wikipedia. This is perhaps due to the obscurity of sources which put these issues into proper historical perspective, as opposed to sources which either discuss current projects while lacking historical perspective, or in some cases are political hit pieces, typically directed towards Sarah Palin and members of Alaska's congressional delegation. There are planning documents which suggest that plans for a bypass route specifically connecting the Seward with the Glenn Highway date as far back as 1961. These early plans led to the connection of Tudor and Muldoon Roads, not signed as a bypass route of downtown Anchorage for Alaska Route 1 but informally recognized as such for many years. Other plans during the interim years called for building a highway through the Chester Creek greenbelt and Merrill Field. These early plans largely fell victim to development, which eradicated or limited potential routes.
• Not quite as significant overall, but a very important current development: work just began on expanding the six-lane road south to Dowling Road, including rebuilding the bridges over Campbell Creek in order to accommodate a trail under-crossing. This would allow for the two major segments of the Campbell Creek Trail to be connected. This particular project is scheduled to be completed in 2014. The overall plan, which includes extending the six-lane to Dearmoun Road and under-crossings (but not interchanges) of a number of section line and quarter section line roads which currently end at the highway's respective frontage roads, began its current planning phase in 2006. It's actually been on the table for much longer than that; Alaska's transportation plans are nearly entirely dependent upon federal funding, and as such fall in and out of circulation depending upon public/official interest, earmarks, placement in priority lists, etc.RadioKAOS (talk) 11:41, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

This followup is to drive home what is a very important point about the Seward Highway, even if it's one that people would rather not have splashed all over Wikipedia. This was taken from one search of the ADN website. There may be some biases in using this, in that this is something the ADN would consider a high priority to report on. For the purposes of simplification, the accidents mentioned below are limited to the highway between the Sterling Highway junction and the southern end of freeway in Anchorage. The accidents described are not necessarily limited to any criteria, but I have attempted to focus on accidents which resulted in death, injury or closure of the highway. There are also included additional stories which don't report directly on accidents, but are nonetheless very relevant to this subject.

• June 16, 2008: The Seward Highway has reopened after a motor home rolled over Monday afternoon and blocked southbound traffic for several hours, according to Alaska State Troopers.
• July 4, 2008: An Eagle River man is dead after a three-car accident on the Seward Highway Thursday night near Summit Lake, the Alaska State Troopers said.
• December 12, 2008: One person is dead and two people injured after a five-car accident on the Seward Highway near Girdwood on Friday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers.
• December 24, 2008: One woman is dead and two other people injured following a two-car collision Tuesday afternoon on the Seward Highway near Bird Creek, according to Alaska State Troopers.
• May 3, 2009: A passenger was thrown from a motorcycle and run over by a tractor-trailer truck about Mile 111 of the Seward Highway near McHugh Creek on Sunday, Alaska State Troopers said. (the next day's report stated that she remained in critical condition)
• July 4, 2009: A 29-year-old Anchorage woman was killed on the Seward Highway Saturday afternoon after a minivan left its lane to pass slower cars, then struck her Ford Escape head-on. (also referenced August 21, 2009, when they reported that it was her brother who died in another accident on the Seward Highway, but within Anchorage proper)
• July 25, 2009: Seth Mandel, 11, of Anchorage died Friday night from injuries he suffered in a vehicle accident at Mile 76.6 of the Seward Highway, state troopers said.
• August 1, 2009: Four people were injured in a Seward Highway accident roughly 20 miles south of Portage on Friday night, according to Alaska State Troopers.
• August 6, 2009: Troopers say that one southbound pickup truck trying to pass a line of vehicles collided with oncoming traffic. Two people were killed in the crash that involved five vehicles on Thursday, August 6, 2009.
• September 1, 2009: This summer's string of deaths on the Seward Highway had state legislators talking Tuesday about what's being done to help keep Alaska drivers alive.
• November 5, 2009: A woman sought by police as a possible drunken driver crossed the center line of the Seward Highway in her SUV on Thursday and struck a car head-on, killing its driver and injuring its passenger.
• December 4, 2009: A pickup left the Seward Highway and flipped early Thursday morning, breaking through the roadside ice and trapping the two occupants underwater, according to troopers and firefighters. (they both died)
• December 20, 2009: People in Bird and Indian, a few miles south of Anchorage off the Seward Highway, say they've seen enough rear-enders, dangerous passing and deadly crashes. They want a 45-mph speed limit.
• February 5, 2010: Girdwood resident Paul C. Wiersema, critically injured last week in a Seward Highway collision with an out-of-control trailer, has died from his injuries.
• December 18, 2010: Traffic on the Seward Highway is snarled tonight due to wreck near Mile 110, Alaska State Troopers say. One person is dead in the accident. A second person was taken to an Anchorage hospital.
• July 3, 2011: A three-car accident on the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm resulted in minor injuries and backed up holiday traffic this afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers.
• July 29, 2011: An accident on the Seward Highway near the Girdwood turnoff has halted traffic and is likely to slow travel for the next few hours.
• August 5, 2011: A three-vehicle collision on the Seward Highway near Indian killed one person and left 14 injured Thursday afternoon, Alaska State Troopers said. The crash -- which included a fully loaded passenger van -- closed the highway until late evening.
• August 21, 2011: A head-on collision killed one person and injured three others Saturday afternoon on the Seward Highway south of Girdwood, Alaska State Troopers said.
• January 24, 2012: A 42-year-old Anchorage man was in critical condition Monday after he was struck by a city Share-A-Ride van Sunday night along the Seward Highway in Bird.

Of course, this list is far from comprehensive. I actually stopped including search results in the list once the results became less and less relevant to the subject. Also, I haven't attempted to make any comparisons between the Seward Highway and any other roads. Hope this helps.RadioKAOS (talk) 13:03, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Actually, I just glanced up at the television and noticed a documentary airing on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Would that at all make for a worthwhile comparison?RadioKAOS (talk) 10:15, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Traffic accidents by themselves generally aren't notable, unless it causes major damage to the road or something encyclopedic. --Rschen7754 04:00, 15 May 2012 (UTC)