Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/Newsletter/Issues/Volume04/Issue01

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In this issue Happy New Year, roads editors! As we look forward to 2011, we're looking back at the year that was in this issue. The year 2010 was certainly interesting through the various review processes. The project itself has received some accolades from outside USRD, and the overall stub count was significantly reduced. We're also looking forward to 2011 with a new stub-reduction goal, with a new theme. As of press time, 141 stubs have been eliminated in the first 10 days of the year. That places us at a 7% completion rate so far.

From the staff of the newsletter to all of our readers, here's to a great 2011. May your gas tanks be full, your memory cards be ready and your library research trips fruitful. Happy editing!
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 * Featured story
 * Featured story

The Year in Review

 * Contributors: Fredddie and Imzadi1979

2010 by the numbers
The year 2010 started out with 29 FAs, 18 As and 373 GAs under our scope. We had 5903 Stub-Class articles, with a goal to reduce that to 2967 by year's end. In January, the FAC for M-28 Business (Ishpeming–Negaunee, Michigan) closed to start the year with a newly minted FA. Later in the year, a second FA, Capitol Loop, would be added to the roster. Our portal, Portal:U.S. Roads, was upgraded to Featured Portal status, and our first Featured Sound was added. The sound file is a clip of a speech given by President Eisenhower expressing the needs for a "new road program" that later became the Interstate Highway System. USRD now has Featured Articles, Lists, Topics, Pictures, Portal and Sound, or at least one of every featured content type.

Our ACR process saw some interesting firsts over the year. Ontario Highway 401 was nominated for review through the USRD ACR process because CRWP at the time lacked a counterpart. Floydian withdrew the nomination over a lack of patience with a forum that has not been historically known for its speed. He nominated the article at FAC where it was subsequently not promoted. In the future, the revitalized CRWP will be starting its own ACR process, modeled on ours, with assistance from USRD editors to complete the reviews. Another first was the "drive-by" nomination of Eisenhower Tunnel. The ACR nomination procedures were updated as a result to clarify that only major contributors to an article should nominate it at ACR, a restriction that FAC imposes. A total of five articles were promoted through the process, three of which are now at FAC.

As 2010 drew to a close, there were 31 FAs, 22 As, 466 GAs for the project. We had 4524 Stubs listed on the leaderboard. Each states' articles were audited over the course of the summer, and unassessed or misassessed articles had their ratings corrected, increasing the stub counts. Additional articles were created over the course of the year that also increased the counts. We had a net decrease of 1432 Stub-Class articles over the course of the 2010 drive, short of the goal, but still a remarkable achievement all the same. Dana boomer, one of the delegates over at WP:FAR even complimented the project in a Stub types for deletion discussion related to some of the stub templates in use on the articles.

New goal for 2011
With the success of the 2010 stub reduction drive, the project has embarked on a new goal for 2011. It was originally going to be a reduction of 2000 stubs, but Mitchazenia suggested adding 11 stubs to the goal. 2011 stubs for 2011. Viridiscalculus suggested a snappy title: 2011: A De-Stubbing Odyssey. Add in a hilarious poster by Imzadi1979, and the project was off.

There are a number of areas where you can help reduce the number of stub-class articles. These numbers are as of the January 10, 2011, update. Ω is the relative wikiwork score, which shows at what level is the average article for that state.
 * Puerto Rico only has eight articles above Stub-class, while having 88 stubs. (Ω 5.896)
 * Georgia has 281 stubs.(Ω 5.879)
 * Arkansas has 204 stubs.(Ω&nsbp;5.813)
 * Missouri has 181 stubs. (Ω 5.707)

Improving half of these articles will lower our total by 380 stubs.


 * New York has 718 articles, of which 31 are stubs and 126 are starts. (Ω 3.560)
 * Texas has 646 articles, of which 349 are stubs. (Ω 5.125)
 * Pennsylvania has 560 articles, of which 280 are stubs. (Ω 5.093)
 * Ohio has 539 articles, of which 304 are stubs. (Ω 5.317)

These states show that improving a handful of articles won't affect the relative wikiwork score too much. When improving articles, try to make sure they have a route description, adequate coverage of the route's history, and a route junction list. These three parts to an article constitute a C-class article.
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Royal Award Conferred

 * Contributor: Imzadi1979

USRD recently received an award for the project itself. The Triple Crown Awards (TC) are given to editors that successfully nominate articles at DYK, Good Articles and any of the forms of Featured Content like Featured Articles. Once a project has five members that receive a TC, the project itself can receive an award. The only limitation is that all of the articles or content nominated for an editor need to be within the project's scope. SMasters conferred the award on December 16, rewarding the efforts of Mitchazenia, NE2, Scott5114, Moabdave (formerly known as Davemeistermoab), Imzadi1979, Holderca1, Algorerhythms and Rschen7754. The latter two received their first TC in the process. USRD is only the third project to earn its own TC, after the Australia and The Simpsons wikiprojects.

Admrboltz and Juliancolton are other project members with TCs, but they do not have a complete set of content using only USRD articles at this time. Admrboltz will be eligible to be included in the project TC list should Interstate 80 Business (West Wendover, Nevada – Wendover, Utah) pass its FAC. Juliancolton will become eligible if he nominates a USRD article for DYK. Additionally, Fredddie will be eligible if U.S. Route 30 in Iowa passes its FAC. As of this writing, neither FAC has closed. Additional project members will be added to the roster for the award as they meet the qualifications of the TC project.
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USRD busy at work at FAC

 * Contributor: Dough4872

As of January 11, four USRD members have sent articles to WP:FAC. This is the first time four USRD members have sent articles to FAC as well as the first time three USRD articles are at FAC.† On December 9, U.S. Route 30 in Iowa was sent to FAC by Fredddie, the first FA nomination for both Fredddie and Iowa task force. Later, on December 27, Admrboltz sent Interstate 80 Business (West Wendover, Nevada – Wendover, Utah) to FAC, which is the first signed Interstate business route and second overall to be sent to the venue. If it passes, it will be the first successful FA for him and the third featured contribution including two featured lists. Most recently, on January 8, Imzadi1979 sent M-6 (Michigan highway) to FAC, the sixth article sent to the venue by him. In addition to these three articles, a fourth article was sent to FAC by a USRD editor. On December 9, the same day Fredddie sent U.S. Route 30 in Iowa to FAC, Moabdave sent Thistle, Utah to FAC for a second time. Moabdave has improved four USRD articles to FA, and if the Thistle article passes, it will be his fifth FA and first non-USRD FA.


 * † In 2008, Chickasaw Turnpike, Interstate 15 in Arizona, and M-35 (Michigan highway) were all at FAC briefly. A few hours after M-35 was nominated, Chickasaw Turnpike was promoted.


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 * State and national updates
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Assessment roundup

 * Contributor: Fredddie

In the last three months, more progress was made to improve the project's articles. Two states pushed below the 4.0 barrier. Here's a look at the top ten as of the January 10, 2011, update. States in italics are task forces. Unlinked states have no project.

In the top ten, Michigan stays at the top while New York, Utah, and New Jersey traded places. Washington and Minnesota both came from far behind to end at 7 and 8, respectively. Iowa stays at 9 and Arizona rounds out the bunch at ten. Check out WP:USRD/A/S for current stats, updated daily.

Here's a look at the project as a whole.

The project gained four A-class articles and 38 Good Articles, but most importantly, the project dropped 453 stubs. Check out the section above for details about the new stub-reduction goal.


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Project reports
Currently, efforts are being made to ensure that every California state highway article has a route description. This will help to even out the article quality across the board and help California to regain its standing in terms of road article quality across the nation.—Rschen7754
 * California

Not much has changed in Michigan. More GAs and Bs, less Cs. Michigan Highway System was the first article on a state's system to reach and pass GA. Some non-project editors are pitching in their photo talents by adding addition pictures from various areas in the state.—Imzadi1979
 * Michigan

Minnesota has jumped up the leaderboard, entering the top ten. The number of Start-class articles has dropped below 40, and in the next month that number should drop into the teens. Minnesota now has more C-class articles than any state but New York, so the next year will hopefully see those brought up to B or above. Now that the Minnesota Digital Library has, with two exceptions, made available online every official state map from 1923 to the present, it will be possible to have most articles referenced only to official sources.—Sable232
 * Minnesota

In the early part of November, all of Nebraska's remaining stubs were upgraded to start-class articles through the addition of a route description and junction list to every article.—Dough4872
 * Nebraska

At the beginning of 2011 with the new stub drive, the remainder of New Jersey's articles were destubbed through either expansion or merging. The majority of the remaining stubs were 500-series county routes, which all had route descriptions added.—Dough4872
 * New Jersey

Not much has occurred project wise, however Interstate 80 Business (West Wendover, Nevada – Wendover, Utah) successfully passed its A-Class review, and is currently a Featured Article Canidate. has been busy as well, ridding route descriptions of pesky unsigned legislative designations, such as Utah State Route 1 (I-15). Work is being done to finish the remaining redlinked articles as well.—Admrboltz
 * Utah

Since the last writing, through the efforts of and returning editor, the Washington State Highways project has jumped up the leaderboard, and is under 4.000. The following articles have been promoted to GA since the last newsletter: SR 11, SR 22, SR 168, SR 174, SR 220, SR 221, SR 223, SR 224, SR 225, SR 231, SR 251, SR 290, SR 410, SR 433, SR 506, SR 510, SR 702, & SR 903. The project's first Good Topic, Washington State Route 22(topic), was promoted on December 12 through the efforts of Admrboltz, the GA reviewers, and the Good Topic Candidates supporters. A destubbing effort has begun, and the project is below 40 stubs statewide at the time of writing.—Admrboltz
 * Washington


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Selected articles
State Route 68 (SR-68) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Utah. It is a major thoroughfare throughout the Wasatch Front as it runs north–south for 70.832 mi, linking U.S. Route 6 (US-6) near Elberta to US-89 in Bountiful. The route intersects several major freeways and highways in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area including Interstate 215 (I-215), I-80, and I-15. The route is more commonly referred to as Redwood Road, after the street it is routed along throughout Salt Lake County. The highway is also routed for a short distance along 500 South and 200 West in Bountiful and Camp Williams Road in Utah County. The route is a surface street for its entire length.
 * November

SR-68 became a state highway in 1931, at which time the route ran from then–US-40 (North Temple Street) in Salt Lake City to present-day US-89 in Lehi. In 1933, the route was extended north to US-89 in Becks. SR-68 was routed onto Redwood Road in 1943, taking over what had been designated SR-153. In 1960, SR-68 switched alignments with SR-249 to follow Redwood Road and 2300 North to Bountiful; the route was extended south to Elberta at this time also. SR-249 was extended west along a proposed roadway to 2200 West and 2200 North in 1961 before being removed in 1969. In 2001, SR-68 was extended south on a former piece of SR-106 in Bountiful.
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Selected pictures
''Problems listening to this file? See media help.'' The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was opened on July 1, 1940, and due to a physical phenomenon known as aeroelastic flutter the bridge collapsed on November 7, 1940, at 11:00 am (Pacific time). New York State Route 74 (NY 74) and Vermont Route 74 (VT 74) are adjoining state highways in the northeastern United States, connected by one of the last remaining cable ferries in North America. Together they extend for 35 mi through Essex County, New York, and Addison County, Vermont. NY 74 begins at exit 28 off Interstate 87 (I-87) in the hamlet of Severance in the Adirondack Mountains region of the northern part of New York State. It extends 20.44 mi to the western shore of Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga. There, the seasonal Fort Ticonderoga – Larrabees Point Ferry carries cars across the state border into Vermont, where VT 74 starts at the lake's eastern shore and terminates 13.26 mi later at a junction with VT 30 in the town of Cornwall.
 * November
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 * December

NY 74 is a descendant of the historic Ticonderoga and Schroon Turnpike, which was a privately owned highway chartered in 1832, and segments of NY 74 follow the alignment of the original 19th century turnpike. The connecting ferry route predates both NY 74 and VT 74 and began operation in 1759 on an informal basis. The ferry operation formalized at the close of the 18th century and upgraded to a cable system in 1946.

Due to extensive changes in designations in both states during the 20th century, the entire length of the present highway consists of renamed segments from other highways. The New York portion of the cross-state Route 74 west of Ticonderoga was designated as part of NY 73 in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, while the Vermont section carried several different designations from the 1920s to the late 1930s, when it became solely part of VT F-9. NY 73 was extended east to Lake Champlain in the 1950s—replacing NY 347—and VT F-9 was split into VT 73 and VT 74 shortly afterward. The Schroon–Ticonderoga highway was redesignated as NY 74 ca. 1973 after NY 73 was cut back to its current eastern terminus in Elizabethtown. The Parks Highway on the way to Fairbanks, Alaska U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Alt US 40) is the United States highway designation for a former segment of U.S. Route 40 (US 40) through Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland. The highway begins at US 40 near exit 14 on Interstate 68 and runs 31.80 mi eastward to Cumberland, where it ends at exit 44 on Interstate 68. Alt US 40 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA).
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 * December
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 * January

The highway is known as Old National Pike to reflect the fact that it follows the original alignment of the National Road. As the route of the historic National Road, there are many historic sites along Alt US 40, including the Casselman Bridge in Grantsville and the last remaining National Road toll gate house in Maryland, located in LaVale.

When the National Freeway was built in western Maryland paralleling the old National Road, parts of U.S. Route 40 were bypassed. The part of the bypassed road between Keyser's Ridge and Cumberland became Alt US 40, and other bypassed sections east of Cumberland became Maryland Route 144 and U.S. Route 40 Scenic. Although Alt US 40 has diminished in importance from its original status as the National Road due to the construction of Interstate 68, it remains an important route for local traffic and serves as the Main Streets of Grantsville and Frostburg. Interstate 93 southbound in the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel in Boston, part of the Big Dig
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 * January
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From the editors
The next quarterly issue should be out in April. The editors of the newsletter would like to hear from you, the reader. What do you like about the current format? What should be changed? Removed? Added? Your comments are needed.

Lastly, remember that this is your newsletter and you can be involved in the creation of the next issue released in April. Any and all contributions are welcome. Simply let yourself be known to any of the undersigned, or just start editing!


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Contributors to this issue

 * Admrboltz (contributor)
 * Dough4872 (contributor)
 * Fredddie (contributor)
 * Imzadi1979 (editor)
 * Rschen7754 (editor emeritus)
 * Sable232 (contributor)
 * Viridiscalculus (contributor)
 * }