Talk:Portage Glacier Highway

the latest review

Just looked over the failed A-class review, have some comments on it:

There are questions about the large gap in the history of the road. Portage valley os acalled that because before there was a tunnel, boats would be portaged across the icefield to get the from Prince William Sound to Turnagain Arm. The road on the Portage side was presumably developed along the same route (the valley isn't that wide do that's a fairly safe assumption, but there may be more info at the official website on this.)

The objection to the phrase "peaks of the Chugach Mountains" being used to open a sentence about what can be seen from the road seems to me a a bit pver the top in terms of nitpicking, it is hardly a major problem, or a problem at all really.

I agree about trimming the content on the bridges. They are minor bridges over narrow streams and not really noteworthy.

I had a bot more to say but I've just been called into work so it will have to wait. Beeblebrox (talk) 00:40, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

I've been busy enough lately to where I wasn't even aware the A-Class review was going on. If such as thing showed up in article alerts, it would have made it easier to notice. Since I'm at the library and have access to such, I grabbed a number of issues of The Milepost for comparison. The 1966 Milepost refers to the road, but without an official name. It mentions that the road was paved at the time and led through the Portage Glacier Recreational Area, or the series of campgrounds. It also mentioned that these campgrounds were newly-constructed at that time. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this photo is of the Seward Highway/Portage Glacier Road intersection, which shows a gravel road. The 1973 and 1978 (and later) Mileposts refer to the road as the Portage Glacier Access Road. The term "Portage Glacier Road" first appears in the 1987 edition. The term "Road", rather than "Highway", appears in the 2006 edition, which was the most recent one I consulted. I didn't go through every edition looking for details, however.

• There previously existed a number of commercial facilities along the road, which by now are long gone. The Portage Glacier Lodge once stood in the general area now occupied by the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. Various Milepost editions mention that the lodge remained even after a visitor center predating Begich, Boggs was constructed. There was also a lodge (more a store/gas station than anything else) at the Seward Highway intersection. It was in ruins for many years, but not like the ruins found on the seaward side. There was also a gas station at Portage itself many years ago, but years after the earthquake.
• The entire history of the tunnel before it was converted to road use is missing. There is a photo, which has been widely published over the years, of a work crew led by Anton Anderson walking out of the tunnel after blasting/drilling was completed. For as many years as I've seen this photo, it would tell me that something also had to have been written which can be used as a source. The "Tolls" section of the article is out of place, IMO, since the only tolls found along the road are for the tunnel itself.
• Unlike mentioning the Old Seward Highway in the Seward Highway article, I don't believe the related route section describes anything which is that different from the main route.

I'm sure I can come up with more to offer. I'm subject to time limits on this computer, and my head's hurting a little too much.RadioKAOS (talk) 22:42, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Wildlife

The new additions and improvements generally look good, but I have just removed some material. The only way one is going to see bison, elk, or deer in this area is if they pay to get into the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which is near the turnoff from the Seward highway. None of these animals can be seen in the wild in this part of Alaska, and I am fairly certain Alaska does not actually have wild elk at all. Also, sockeye, chum, and coho are all salmon. I tired to clean that up but it may need more editing for clarity. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:12, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

I hate to nitpick but there may also be an factual error in the latest edit regarding mountain goats. It is a common mistake, even for reporters, to mistake the Dall sheep often seen in this are for goats. Further down toward Seward there are mountain goats, but up in the Turnigain Arm area it is pretty much all sheep. I'll see if I can't find a ref for that and we'll try to evaluate which is correct I guess. Beeblebrox (talk) 00:25, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the help. But it's not just the reporters that mistake this. My copy of National Geographic Traveler Alaska also says that mountain goats can be seen from the highway. - Awardgive, the editor with the msitaken name. 03:40, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Now that is odd, I would have expected them to know the difference. It is very common to see the sheep, in fact people stopping to view them on the first 50 miles or so of the Seward Highway is known traffic hazard as up until it gets down near where we are talking about the highway is wedged on a very narrow strip of land between the base of the mountains and the water. Beeblebrox (talk) 04:38, 13 October 2012 (UTC)