Wikipedia:WikiProject Highways/Assessment/A-Class Review/Pennsylvania Route 39


 * The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Pennsylvania Route 39
review
 * Suggestion: Promote to A-Class
 * Nominator's comments: I re-read the A-Class review from a bit over 5 years ago. I believe recently found source citation has resolved most of the remaining issues from the review at the time. This has resolved it's missing history, including the date the route was established (May 1, 1937), as well as extensions and deletions related to the route.

A peer review was also done in 2013. Prior to that, there were other reviews; links to those can be found on Talk:Pennsylvania Route 39.


 * Nominated by: hmich 176 09:58, 3 December 2014 (UTC)
 * First comment occurred: 17:32, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Review by Fredddie
Welcome back to ACR, LTNS! I'll review this article shortly. –Fredddie™ 17:32, 3 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Infobox and lead
 * I'm starting to think most of the lead needs to be rewritten.


 * 1) I'm working on creating a new SVG map, but currently finding accurate river data is holding me up (damn islands). I provide all my sources so it will pass muster at FAC.
 * This is done, finally. –Fredddie™ 19:42, 7 March 2015 (UTC)
 * 1) Is it right to call PA 39 an east–west route? It has a fairly significant north–south segment.
 * 2) There are lots of unnecessary comma-separated clauses. For instance: "Pennsylvania Route 39 (PA 39) is an east–west state highway in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in the United States, established on May 1, 1937.[1] Extending 17.68 miles (28.45 km), it starts at North Front Street, north of Harrisburg, and ends at U.S. Route 322 and U.S. Route 422 near Hummelstown and Hershey."
 * 3) The length can be shortened to "nearly 18 mi".
 * 4) US Highways and Legislative routes don't have their abbreviations explained before they're used.
 * 5) The legislative route paragraph is unduly long relative to the size of the history section. I'd prefer that it was summarized better than expanding the lead to add the rest of the history section.
 * 6) Inversely, the post-1960 part of the lead is not long enough relative to the history section.


 * Route description
 * 1) The first sentence is very nearly a run-on.
 * 2) Is it necessary to mention every township through which the route passes?
 * 3) What's with the random quadrant route? It's not the only QR that PA 39 intersects, so why is it the only one linked?
 * 4) "PA 39" is used too many times. Better get out the bag of pronouns.
 * 5) "It enters West Hanover Township upon crossing Beaver Creek and interchanges with Interstate 81 at exit 77" Interchange, in the sense that we roads people use it, is rarely a verb.

Stopping here for now. More to come later. –Fredddie™ 19:19, 3 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your initial review, as well as working on making a new SVG map. I've started to rewrite the lead; it's a work in progress, but I've eliminated the east-west route verbiage, and reduced comma-separated clauses to some degree. I address the "nearly 18 miles" note. I need to work on the last couple of paragraphs to shorten it into something succinct. As for the route description, I addressed the first sentence, removed township references, used the bag of pronouns to positive effect, and broke out the jar of synonyms to replace "interchanges" with "approaches an interchange." The quadrant route was mentioned was because it was once an article. It was deleted. I've removed the link. -- hmich 176 14:04, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Continuing...


 * 1) This sentence "It heads south from Jonestown Road to intersect US 22 near Skyline View, here an at-grade roadway named Allentown Boulevard." something doesn't feel right about it but I can't put my finger on it.  Maybe this is a time where that dreaded comma-separated clause would be a good thing. "It heads south from Jonestown Road to intersect US 22, here an at-grade roadway named Allentown Boulevard, near Skyline View."
 * 2) "...to the vicinity of Hershey." You could argue the whole highway is in the vicinity of Hershey.
 * 3) There are still a couple of townships near the Hersheypark links.
 * 4) I'm not sure the picture of the PA 39 BGS is the best fit for this article. I could be swayed by a compelling argument, though.


 * History
 * 1) Lately, when there are section subheaders, I've recommended a section mini-lead before the first subheader. Three or four sentences should do it.
 * 2) It would be great if the legislative route article had a section explaining how Pennsylvania's LRs worked. THEN, we could trim out some extraneous information and add  under the subheader.  Yes, I realize I'm asking you to work outside of the scope of this article, but consider it me thinking out loud and not necessarily actionable.

More later. –Fredddie™ 02:48, 5 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Agreed about the Jonestown Road sentence. I made the switch. I'll address the townships shortly. As for the BGS, I'd go with whatever's best for the article. It doesn't fit within the current format of the article very well. That could change with this revision process, however. I already plan to create a section mini-lead before the first subhead. There is some history of Linglestown Road and Hershey Road worth mentioning prior to either road becoming part of PA 39. From what I've read, part of Hershey Road was the first road in the Commonwealth to be constructed using state funding. Linglestown Road also has some decent history behind it. I also found numerous references (albeit subjective) in newspaper opinions that Linglestown Road was considered the worst road in the Commonwealth prior to it's first round of improvements in the mid 1920s. Also, a segment of the road near Progress Avenue was apparently used for experiments by PennDOH. So, there will be more to come regarding the history.


 * I see where you're going with the legislative route idea, so I changed the link to the List of legislative routes in Pennsylvania and piped it. I can place a further tag and excise some of the extraneous information.


 * As to the "vicinity of Hershey," once you reach the intersection of PA 39 and Hersheypark Drive, you're in Hershey. Arguably, as you head southwest on Hersheypark Drive towards 322/422, you sort of leave Hershey, because most locals consider the intersection of 39/322/422 to be in Hummelstown (even though the borough border is roughly a half-mile to the west). However, I checked Google Maps to see how it delineates Hershey - PA 39 / Hersheypark Drive is the western border of the area (see ), from the Hersheypark Drive intersection all the way down to the 322/422 intersection.


 * Thanks again, and I look forward to more of your comments! -- hmich 176 08:24, 5 December 2014 (UTC)
 * What I was getting at regarding the "vicinity of Hershey" is that the wording is vague. I think it would be easier for readers to visualize that PA 39 forms the (north?)western city limit here instead of being in "the vicinity of Hershey". –Fredddie™ 04:25, 6 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I understand and I will clarify that. Just a question about this though - Hershey is a census-designated place, not an incorporated village / borough / city. Would that be the best way to word it? -- hmich 176 07:53, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Review by Rschen7754
I will review this one as well. --Rschen7754 05:14, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Image review by Dough4872

 * File:PA-39.svg - PD-self, should be tagged as PD-MUTCD-PA
 * File:PA 39 map.png - CC-SA-3.0, GFDL, sources should be provided (though I noticed Fredddie is planning on making a new map)
 * File:Linglestown Square.JPG - CC-BY-SA-3.0 migrated, GFDL
 * File:Eastern 39.JPG - CC-BY-SA-3.0 migrated with disclaimers, GFDL
 * File:Route 39 and Progress.jpg - PD-self, maybe should mention year photo was taken in caption.  Dough 48  72  04:49, 7 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Note: This will need a source review, spotcheck, Fredddie's review to be completed, my review to be completed, and a third review to be completed to pass ACR. --Rschen7754 04:18, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Per discussion with the nominator, I am suspending this nomination. --Rschen7754 07:57, 15 February 2015 (UTC)


 * The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.