Alaska Beat

AK Beat: Seward Highway dubbed one of the 10 most-scenic byways in America

Seward Highway picked as of the nation's most scenic: Country Magazine is telling Alaskans something they already knew: the 127-mile Seward Highway is one of the nation's most scenic byways. The highway connects the port community of Seward (population 3,000) to Anchorage (home to 300,000, making it Alaska's largest city). The nine other selections include the Oregon Coast Highway and the Bluegrass Valley Road in Northern Virginia. While the Seward Highway is best known for its stunning vistas -- it parallels Turnagain Arm for 40 miles -- it's also one of the most dangerous. There have been 30 fatal wrecks in that same area stretch of road from 2000 to 2012.

4.0 earthquake shakes Yakutat region: A mild earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 shook the Yakutat area early Tuesday morning, according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center. The quake, which was recorded at 5:44 a.m., was located at a depth of about 6 miles some 25 miles east of Yakutat in Southeast Alaska. There have been no reports of damage.

Seward Highway reopened: The Seward Highway is back open, after being closed Tuesday morning just north of Girdwood due to a fallen power line, according to Alaska State Troopers. At around 4 a.m. Tuesday, the power line fell across the Southcentral highway connecting Seward to Anchorage, cutting power to more than 2,000 locations. While power was quickly restored to all customers, the road remained closed for about 5 hours Tuesday morning before reopening at 9:30 a.m.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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