Marking the End of the road

Often in the North Country we uses distances in lieu of address. For instance, someone may live at Mile 31.6 Old Richardson Highway. And, en route to Alaska, you will notice many official addresses as being something on the order of Mile 612, Alaska Highway.

The latter may be momentarily confusing since Canada uses the metric system and road signs are in kilometers, but the addresses date back to a time when Canada, too, measured distances in miles. It may also be confusing, too, when the mileages don't match anything on your odometer. Over the years, the Alaska Highway has gotten significantly shorter as various parts of it have been straightened out and rerouted. Thus and address in Watson Lake of Mile 630 may only be 612 miles from Milepost Zero in Dawson Creek.

In Alaska, there are actually two mileposts marking the end of the Alaska Highway, one at Fairbanks and the other at Delta Junction, about 90 miles before you get to Fairbanks. Technically the Delta Junction Milepost is correct. The Richardson Highway between Delta Junction and Fairbanks existed for years before the Alaska Highway was built. However, most folks headed north are aimed at Fairbanks, not Delta Junction, and they're looking for this Milepost on the banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.