I suspect that the Alaskan Highway was one of those good ideas on a general arrangement drawing that might not have survived first contact with the chockheads who would have to maneuver a 30 te aircraft down the outboard side of the ship (where roll amplitude is magnified), in the dark, rain, spray etc and with little or no clearance between the island itself and the catwalk. At the risk of being burned as a heretic, Winkle was also a fan of the rubber deck / undercarriageless aircraft, which I have to say seems like a dead end. Or rather, an extreme palliative to a problem waiting for better airframe and engine technology.
The "marooned" aircraft would be where you'd leave your alert cabs. Easy unchain and taxi to cats from there, no need to get involved in the larger safe parking area which can deal with your cyclic deck ops.. It's not a fully representative deck spot either, as the portside cabs encroaching over the recovery line show.