Tiny Alaska port town designs transportation plan to handle huge crowds

The Coral Princess cruise ship towers over small boats docked at Whittier's harbor on July 16, 2025. The Princess ship is at the old cruise terminal. In the distance, at left, is a new cruise terminal built by Huna Totem Corp. in cooperation with Norwegian Cruise Line. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) — The Coral Princess cruise ship towers over small boats docked at Whittier's harbor on July 16, 2025. The Princess ship is at the old cruise terminal. In the distance, at left, is a new cruise terminal built by Huna Totem Corp. in cooperation with Norwegian Cruise Line. Thanks largely to the new terminal, cruise ship visits to Whittier this year are expected to be more than double the total in 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The western Prince William Sound town of Whittier is small, with only about 250 residents packed into a narrow slice of land between the mountains and the sea. But it accommodates a huge number of travelers who move in and out by cruise ship, ferry, railroad, car, bus and truck.

A recreational vehicke drives off the Alaska ferry Aurora in Whittier, with Begich Towers in the background, on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) — A recreational vehicke drives off the Alaska ferry Aurora in Whittier, with Begich Towers in the background, on July 17, 2025. Nearly all of Whittier’s residents live in the Begich Towers, which was originally a military structure. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

In recent years, according to city officials, Whittier has gotten about 700,000 visitors annually: tourists, recreational users, seafood workers, cargo shippers and others. That number is expected to increase substantially in the coming years.

To help figure out ways to move people in and out more efficiently, with fewer bottlenecks and confusion, the city and the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities are developing a plan to guide the next 20 years: Whittier Moves.

“All eyes are on Whittier as an area of opportunity to grow tourism and freight,” the plan’s website says. But to realize that potential, improvements are needed to address challenges posed by the narrow geography between the water and the mountains, including limited flat land and a sole ground transportation link to the outside, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. It is North America’s longest combined rail-auto tunnel, but it is only one lane wide, meaning travelers to and from Whittier, whether in cars or on the train, have to take turns.

A draft master plan released in June is the product of numerous meetings, workshops, open houses and other events. Among the concerns raised by residents and visitors were lack of adequate parking during busy periods, confusing or missing signage and overtaxed public facilities. City and state officials will accept comments on the draft plan will through July 24, and they expect to complete a final plan this year.

A truck emerges from the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel on the Whittier side on July 16, 2025, as vehicles are lined up in lanes on the right in preparation to leave Whittier through the tunner. The tunnel has only one lane, and traffic goes through in shifts. It also accomodates train traffic. (Photo byYereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Concurrent with the Whittier Moves project is the city’s Whittier Safety Action Plan, which is to “identify existing safety issues, analyze roadway data, and recommend strategies and projects that can improve safety for people walking, biking, driving, and operating commercial vehicles.”

The planning work is timely. Traffic in and out of Whittier is on the rise, thanks largely to a big increase in cruise ship use.

In 2024, Whittier received 46 cruise ship calls ferrying 296,300 passengers, according to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Last year, after a new cruise terminal opened, ship calls jumped to 73, according to the department. This year, there are 103 ship calls expected, more than twice the number just two years ago, according to the department.

A resident walks on July 17, 2025, in the tunnel that connects Whittier's downtown district to the waterfront. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) — A resident walks on July 17, 2025, in the tunnel that connects Whittier’s downtown district to the waterfront. The military forces using Whittier during World War II and the post-war period left a network of tunnels, but most are closed off. This tunnel serves as a sheltered route to the waterfront, and it is part of a designated tsunami evacuation route. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Additionally, a big crowd is expected in Whittier in early August, when the U.S. Navy is set to commission a new warship named after the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

Along with its role as a road-marine-railroad hub that attracts tourists, recreationalists, seafood harvesters and cargo shippers, Whittier regularly lands on lists as one of the “weirdest” towns in the nation.

The modern town, where the Alaska Railroad, Alaska Marine Highway System and the state road system converge, is a military legacy.

Nearly all residents live in a single building, the Begich Towers, a converted military building that also houses a store, post office and church.

Beneath Whittier’s shops, restaurants and other structures is a web of tunnels left by the military, most of them closed but some still in regular use, like the underground route between the Begich Towners and the Whittier School.

Tourists walk toward an Alaska Railroad passenger car in Whittier on July 16, 2025. The abandoned Buckner Building is in the background. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The biggest building in town, taking up a significant portion of the scarce space between the water and the mountains, has been abandoned for decades: the 273,600-square-foot Buckner Building. Used for only a few years in the 1950s, it was its own city under one roof, “including a shooting range, drycleaner, theater, bank, barber shop, commissary, post exchange, craft shop, snack bar, officer’s club, serviceman’s club, bowling alley, library, bakery, classrooms, radio & TV stations, office space, dental clinic and hospital,” as the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation describes it. The building has long been closed to public use because of asbestos and other hazards.

A bill passed by the legislature aims to help Whittier to gain a bit more space to accommodate visitors and traffic. The measure, House Bill 216, allows the city to buy land from the state-owned Alaska Railroad, transactions that require legislative approval. The city and railroad have already struck deals for some parcels located in strategic spots. The bill became law and went into effect on July 3 without the governor’s signature.