The Dalton Highway is a 666 km (414 mile) long road that begins north of Fairbanks, Alaska, at a junction with the Elliott Highway and terminates near the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Once known as the Haul Road, it was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974. The Dalton Highway is designated as Alaska State Highway 11.
The Dalton Highway is named after James Dalton , an Alaska-born engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and, as an expert in Arctic engineering, served as consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska. The Dalton Highway should not be confused with the Dalton Trail, a trail in southeastern Alaska used by Tlingit and early gold prospectors.
In the past, most of length of the Dalton Highway has been gravel, with narrow shoulders and steep grades. However, in recent years a plan has been put into place to pave the entire length of the road, which is currently about halfway completed.
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