Southwest Alaska - Transportation

Transportation

Only small local road systems exist in Southwest Alaska. Only a few closely adjacent villages are linked by roads. The area is easily accessible only by air, sea, or river. Alaska Airlines 737 passenger jets serve Bethel, King Salmon, Dillingham, Adak, Dutch Harbor, and Kodiak. Bethel is also a link between arriving ocean barges carrying freight or fuel and the smaller barges which continue up the Kuskokwim. Aniak, Iliamna and some other communities are accessible via scheduled flights from Anchorage on PenAir and smaller air carriers. The small carriers provide essential links onward to smaller communities. Alaska Marine Highway ferries connect Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska Peninsula, and a few Aleutian Island communities to the ports of Southcentral Alaska. A combination of ocean and river barges are important to the communities along the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers. Snowmachine travel is a critical component of winter transport; an ice road for highway vehicles is used along portions of the Kuskokwim River.