# Driving to Juneau, Alaska - Can it be done? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818 "2004-08-01T05:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/21 "2004-08-02T03:19:07Z")
The New York Times had an article last week about the road: [Road proposal splits Alaska’s capital city](http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0725juneau25.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/22 "2004-08-02T03:46:30Z")
From that article: > [@](#): > > This touchy question has divided the 31,000 people of Juneau, **the only state capital that cannot be reached by car** , for decades. And it is creeping into conversation again, as Alaska transportation officials prepare to seek public comment next month on their latest plan for a road. That must be one Hellacious long tunnel or bridge out to Honolulu. I don’t see it on my Rand McNally. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/23 "2004-08-02T05:39:30Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > From that article: > That must be one Hellacious long tunnel or bridge out to Honolulu. I don’t see it on my Rand McNally. Actually, it is possible to reach Honolulu by car - if you’re one of the half-million or so people who live outside the Honolulu district but on the island of Oahu. Such is not the case in Juneau. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/24 "2004-08-02T18:03:36Z")
> [@dqa](#): > > Actually, it is possible to reach Honolulu by car - if you’re one of the half-million or so people who live outside the Honolulu district but on the island of Oahu. Such is not the case in Juneau. Yes, but try driving to Honolulu from Kailua Kona or Lahaina… If Alaska does move their capital to Willow, I sure hope they rename the place. I’m not sure I could handle having that as the name of a state capital. It’s not like towns haven’t been renamed before upon becoming capitals, although perhaps not always for the better. Regina, Sask used to be Pile of Bones; St. Paul, MN was originally Pig’s Eye; and Helena, MT started life as Last Chance Gulch. It seems to me that these places would benefit by reverting to their former names… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/25 "2004-08-02T18:58:38Z")
And keeping the politicians tucked away without road access is a bad thing? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/26 "2004-08-06T00:02:05Z")
Juneau was originally named Harrisburg. Wouldn’t do to have two state capitals with the same name, now would it? (That’s probably why its name was changed?) Richard Harris (not to be confused with the late Irish actor who played A Man Called Horse and Dumbledore) and Joe Juneau were two drunken prospectors who found gold near the site named for them. Juneau was not even American. He came from Quebec. Is this really a person you want your state capital named for? Why didn’t they just leave the capital at Sitka? What was the big attraction of moving the capital to a place like Juneau, anyway? Sitka, after all, had more history behind it, as the original capital of the Russian territory. It had a name change too: it had previously been named Novy Arkhangel’sk. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/27 "2004-08-06T00:56:27Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Yes, but try driving to Honolulu from Kailua Kona or Lahaina… You could do it in one of [these](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/americas/07/23/offbeat.cuba.migrants.truck.ap/story.2.truck.boat.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/28 "2004-08-06T02:29:45Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > You could do it in one of [these](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/WORLD/americas/07/23/offbeat.cuba.migrants.truck.ap/story.2.truck.boat.jpg)! I was expecting something like [this](http://search.eb.com/normandy/art/odukwee001p1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/29 "2004-08-06T10:37:11Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > There does, however, appear to be a shortish ferry trip involved near Juneau proper. I chose a route from Seattle WA as the stating point, being the closest major city in the lower 48. Hmm. > [@](#): > > 14: Go Southeast on JUNEAU SKAGWAY/HAINES FERRY to local road. 87.4 miles I don’t call 87.4 miles “shortish”. One other bit of Mapquest weirdness - if you look at the maps for each section of that journey, the thick purple line showing the route does not coincide with the roads. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/30 "2004-08-06T13:20:58Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > One other bit of Mapquest weirdness - if you look at the maps for each section of that journey, the thick purple line showing the route does not coincide with the roads. Odd. Sasquatch trail. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/31 "2004-08-06T19:45:07Z")
Perhaps they assume you’re driving [this](http://www.autoescala.com/autoescala/ertl/er33141.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/32 "2004-08-06T22:26:13Z")
> [@Jomo Mojo](#): > > Why didn’t they just leave the capital at Sitka? What was the big attraction of moving the capital to a place like Juneau, anyway? Sitka, after all, had more history behind it, as the original capital of the Russian territory. It had a name change too: it had previously been named Novy Arkhangel’sk. Because of the gold discovery mentioned in your first paragraph. Juneau was thought to have enough potential to become a major economic force for the forseeable future. Anchorage, by the way, was originally called “Alaska City” which was the name put forward by the founders as the official moniker. I, for one, am glad they changed it. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818/33 "2004-08-06T23:36:24Z")
Of course, Sitka is even more inaccessible. Plug that into mapquest, and you will find that you have a longer ferry ride. In fact, you have to take the Ferry to Juneau to pick up another Ferry (longer) to Sitka. Had Sitka remained the capital, there probably wouldn’t have been a road built to it either. In 1906, the choice of Juneau probably made sense. The Alaska railroad hadn’t been constructed yet, and Anchorage had not yet become an incorporated city. Practically all commerce with Alaska was by water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-to-juneau-alaska-can-it-be-done/257818.md?page=1)