Talk:U.S. Route 287 in Texas

Cleanup needed
The following items need to be addressed at some point in this article:


 * Lead and infobox
 * Please reformat the lead sentence to include the highway's name and abbreviation in boldface text. highway detail hatnote was developed so that the parent article can be linked in the hatnote. See some of the Featured US Highway articles for examples.
 * The lead needs to be a summary of the article. Every section of the article should be represented, and currently they are not. (The junction list would be represented by the summary version in the infobox, see next point.)
 * The state highway designations that redirect to this article should really be mentioned in the lead.
 * If the lead is the first place where a highway of each "class" is mentioned (by class, I mean Interstate, US, state, farm/ranch to market, etc) then the first mention should be wikilinked with the full name followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. For example, for the first mention of any Interstate Highway in the article, use the following: "... Interstate 10 (I-10)... ". You'll notice that I linked to the state-detail article for I-10, since this is also a state-detail article for US 287. After the first mention of any highway of a class, it is safe to abbreviate all subsequent mentions, even if different members of that class. If I-10 was mentioned first, I-20 can be abbreviated on its first and subsequent mentions, etc.
 * Too many junctions. Please limit to 10. This can be accomplished by limiting to the two-digit Interstates and removing all three-digit Interstates and the US Highways. Remember, everything will be listed in the junction list section in the article.
 * There's a broken parameter in the infobox coding so that "browse=" is showing.


 * Route description
 * Rewrite to reverse it to a south-to-north direction.
 * Add citations to reputable maps as needed for each paragraph. My suggestion is the current TxDOT paper map and a link to a Google Maps set of directions that follows the length of the highway in Texas (in satellite view). I would have the footnotes appear at the end of each paragraph, unless additional sources are needed for specific points.
 * For any highway classes not introduced in the lead, follow the same guidelines on first mention here.


 * History
 * Expand this if it's missing any information. Be as specific as you can based on your sources.
 * Use citations to reliable sources, but avoid the "roadgeek" websites because they're all self-published sources. It's fair to use them to start narrowing down historical changes, but verify their information with maps or TxDOT or AASHTO publications.

According to MOS:RJL, the section of the Manual of Style that is the international "road junctions list" style guideline, the following items need to be addressed:
 * Junction list
 * The header needs to be updated, which can be easily down using jcttop, to add a mileage column and fix the "#" column to say "Exit". (Using "#" is not really a good idea because it doesn't mean "number" to all English speakers, nor does it imply that the column is about exits.) Additionally, the template contains the hidden code for screen readers per MOS:ACCESS, that could be added by hand, but using the template makes sure it stays up-to-date.)
 * Distances for all of the junctions should be provided. If US 287 is concurrent with another highway, please do the math to calculate what the milepost for US 287 would be; don't supply the other highway's milepost because that is confusing.
 * On my screen, the table is squished to a narrow width because the length of the infobox has pushed the two photos into this section. I would add a - to the bottom of the history section to force a "clear space" so that the table can appear at full width under its header.
 * The table could use a pruning. I would remove all junctions from the table that aren't intersections with other state-maintained/-numbered highways or that aren't grade-separated junctions (interchanges).
 * The colspans should not be using the "!" syntax. That syntax generates a boldface centered header in the middle of the table; instead use "|colspan=# align=center|" if the table is being generated using wikitable syntax. (The boldface formatting violates both MOS:BOLD and MOS:RJL]], and the formatting
 * There are a number of templates that can be use to generate the table, and they will help make sure that the table conforms to MOS:RJL.
 * The last junction at the bottom of the table should be for the state line with the length listed as the terminal mileage. Think of US 287 in Texas as intersecting with US 287 in Oklahoma.
 * The bottom of the table needs either jctbtm or legendRJL used. The latter is used if the table uses any of the color shadings standardized in MOS:RJL and applied through the templates or compatible hand-coding in the wikitable syntax; otherwise use the former template to close the table.

 Imzadi 1979  →   23:05, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
 * References and External links
 * Consider adding to link to the Texas state portal and the U.S. Roads featured portal. (This would go in a "See also" section if one exists, otherwise I usually put it in the References section.)
 * If a category exists on Commons for US 287 in Texas, consider adding commons category to the external links section. (Commons is a different website, so it's an external link, not an internal one.)
 * If possible, consider adding links to Open Street Map like at the bottom of M-6 (Michigan highway).

Ok, seeing no discussion or action here, I took the initiative and converted the junction list over to the templates. The mileposts will need to be added as will any missing exit numbers. I've made other changes, and struck out the items above.  Imzadi 1979  →   04:44, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

One problem exists with rewriting the article having US 287 in a south-to-north order: it is mostly an east-west highway throughout most of the state (except north of Amarillo) even if it is designated as a north-south route between Montana and Texas. Such is a problem with diagonal routes running northwest-to-southeast (but not with routes running northeast to southwest).