Editing Fairbanks, Alaska (section)

===Road history===
{{multiple image
| footer            = Airport Way, eastbound (left) and westbound (right), is the main east–west thoroughfare in Fairbanks. Constructed in the early and mid-1970s, it links the main gate of [[Fort Wainwright]] with the main terminal of [[Fairbanks International Airport]].
| width             = 180
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| image1            = Airport Way Fairbanks Alaska Eastbound.jpg
| image2            = Airport Way Fairbanks Alaska Westbound.jpg
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[[File:Veteran's Memorial Bridge.jpg|thumb|The newest bridge across the Chena River in Fairbanks, Alaska, is the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, which opened in November 2012.]]

As the transportation hub for Interior Alaska, Fairbanks features extensive road, rail, and air connections to the rest of Alaska and outside of Alaska. At Fairbanks' founding, the only way to reach the new city was via steamboat on the Chena River.<ref>Hendrick, pp. 14–15</ref> In 1904, money intended to improve the [[Valdez-Eagle Trail]] was diverted to build a branch trail, giving Fairbanks its first overland connection to the outside world.<ref>Hendrick, p. 21</ref> The resulting [[Richardson Highway]] was created in 1910 after Gen. [[Wilds P. Richardson]] upgraded it to a wagon road. In the 1920s, it was improved further and made navigable by automobiles, but it was not paved until 1957.<ref>Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. [http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/scenic/byways-richardsonnorth.shtml "Richardson Highway north segment"], dot.state.ak.us. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref>

Fairbanks' road connections were improved in 1927, when the {{convert|161|mi|km|adj=on}} [[Steese Highway]] connected the city to the Yukon River at the gold-mining community of [[Circle, Alaska|Circle]].<ref>''The Milepost''. [http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=411 "Steese Highway"], Morris Magazine Network. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref> In 1942, the [[Alaska Highway]] connected the Richardson Highway to the Canadian road system, allowing road travel from the rest of the United States to Fairbanks, which is considered the unofficial end of the highway. Because of World War II, civilian traffic was not permitted on the highway until 1948.<ref>''The Milepost''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929182939/http://www.milepost.com/faq/hwy_drivingfacts.shtml "FAQ: Alaska Highway facts"], The Internet Archive. September 29, 2007. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref>

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a series of roads were built to connect Fairbanks to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay. The [[Elliott Highway]] was built in 1957 to connect Fairbanks to [[Livengood, Alaska|Livengood]], southern terminus of the [[Dalton Highway]],<ref name="ElliottHwy">''The Milepost''. [http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=311&Itemid=371 "Elliott Highway"], Morris Magazine Network. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref> which ends in [[Deadhorse, Alaska|Deadhorse]] on the North Slope.<ref>''The Milepost''. [http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=281&Itemid=341 "Dalton Highway"], Morris Magazine Network. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref> West of the Dalton intersection, the Elliott Highway extends to [[Manley Hot Springs]] on the Tanana River.<ref name="ElliottHwy"/> To improve logistics in Fairbanks during construction of the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline]], the [[George Parks Highway]] was built between Fairbanks and Palmer in 1971.<ref>''The Milepost''. [http://milepost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=331&Itemid=391 "Parks Highway"], Morris Magazine Network. Accessed October 7, 2009.</ref>

Until 1940, none of Fairbanks' surface streets were paved.<ref>''Gold Rush Town'', p. 114</ref> The outbreak of World War II interrupted plans to pave most of the city's roads, and a movement toward large-scale paving did not begin until 1953, when the city paved 30 blocks of streets.<ref>''Gold Rush Town'', p. 165</ref> During the late 1950s and the 1960s, the remainder of the city's streets were converted from gravel roads to asphalt surfaces.<ref>''Gold Rush Town'', p. 178</ref> Few have been repaved since that time; a 2008 survey of city streets indicated the average age of a street in Fairbanks was 31&nbsp;years.{{Update after|2012|11|3|reason=Repaving of city streets began in earnest in 2004 under Mayor Thompson, and has continued to the present, mostly since the cited news story was published.}}<ref>{{cite news|author=Eshleman, Christopher |url=http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/oct/02/fairbanks-sales-tax-proposal-differs-previous-atte/ |title=Fairbanks sales tax proposal differs from previous attempts |newspaper=Fairbanks Daily News-Miner |date=October 2, 2009 |access-date=October 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004012918/http://newsminer.com/news/2009/oct/02/fairbanks-sales-tax-proposal-differs-previous-atte/ |archive-date=October 4, 2009 }}</ref>