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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/whittier-alaska-us/tunnel
Whittier has one road in and out: the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, a single lane shared with the railroad that closes every night. This page works out, from your clock, the next opening each way and the last way home tonight. It is the published schedule, not a live feed — trains and weather shift the times, so check the official status before you rely on it.
Times are your device’s clock against the published schedule.
This is the schedule — not a live feed
The times below are the published schedule worked out from your clock. A train or bad weather can delay or close the tunnel without notice — for the live status, check Alaska 511 live road conditions.
Operating hours
Season
Dates
Open
Summer hours
May 1 – September 30
5:30 AM – 11:15 PM
Winter hours
October 1 – April 30
7:00 AM – 10:45 PMGates are locked at 11:00 pm.
How the one lane works
The tunnel is one lane, shared with the Alaska Railroad, so traffic takes turns. Each hour, cars head toward Whittier in the :30–:45 window and toward Portage and Anchorage in the :00–:15 window. Aim to reach the staging area about 10 minutes before your opening, and allow 20–30 minutes to get all the way through.
Toward Whittier
around :30 past each hour
Toward Anchorage
around :00 past each hour
When it’s freezing: the tunnel opens only for the last 5 minutes of each window instead of the usual 15, so be at the staging area early.
Trains and weather come first
Trains come first. An unscheduled freight train can add 15 to 30 minutes, and the tunnel can close for weather or an avalanche with little warning — it closed twice in one week in March 2024. Once the gates are locked overnight, there is no other way out by land until morning.
Tunnel tolls
The toll is charged once per round trip, heading toward Whittier only. Cars and motorcycles are Class A. You can buy single tickets, books of 10 or 30, or a seasonal pass through the YODEL portal.
Class A
Cars and motorcycles
$13
Class B1
Car with trailer or larger RV
$22
Class B2
Boat-trailer rigs, buses 9–30, heavy trucks
$38
Class C
Buses over 30 passengers
$137
Class D
Heavy or wide trucks (permit)
$137
Class G
Government and school vehicles
$11
Single, book or pass?
Cars and motorcycles
Books are sold whole; the prices above share a book’s cost across the trips it covers.
What the published prices say
Class A
Live temperature by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Single ticket
$13
$13 a round trip
Book of 10
$110
$11 a round trip
Book of 30
$247.50
$8.25 a round trip
Seasonal pass
$605
One price for the whole season
Seasonal pass beats Single ticket from 47 round trips a season.
Seasonal pass and Book of 10 cost exactly the same at 55 round trips — Seasonal pass only wins beyond that.
Seasonal pass beats Book of 30 from 74 round trips a season.
Class B1
Single ticket
$22
$22 a round trip
Book of 10
$192.50
$19.25 a round trip
Book of 30
$495
$16.50 a round trip
Seasonal pass
$990
One price for the whole season
Seasonal pass and Single ticket cost exactly the same at 45 round trips — Seasonal pass only wins beyond that.
Seasonal pass beats Book of 10 from 52 round trips a season.
Seasonal pass and Book of 30 cost exactly the same at 60 round trips — Seasonal pass only wins beyond that.