Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/Newsletter/Issues/Volume04/Issue03

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In this issue Welcome to the fall issue of the USRD newsletter. In this issue, you'll find some updates on what's been going on around USRD for the last six months. As always, any interested project members are welcome to contribute to future issues. We have some future updates coming to the junction list templates, as well as a summary of what has already been accomplished with them. Our A-Class Review has been changed, and we're in the home stretch of this year's stub-reduction drive. This issue features more articles and photos from the Portal than usual because we didn't publish a summer newsletter. Enjoy your fall, and keep on killing those stubs. (Note, that depending on how things progress for the last few months this year, we may publish a special year-end edition to cover the results of the stub-reduction drive.)
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 * Featured story
 * Featured story

Junction list template updates coming

 * Contributor: Imzadi1979

In 2011, based on some feedback from regular reviewers at FAC, there was a proposal to update how our junction/exit lists are formatted to include a second distance column. This second column would contain the metric equivalents of our mileposts. In the end, the solution was to mandate a footer at the bottom of the tables that contained the conversion formulas so that readers could do the math themselves. Many of our articles were never updated to add this footer however. In fact, the junction lists in several states are not compliant with MOS:RJL, the section of the Manual of Style on "road junction lists".

Several of us have worked to merge the previously separate templates for at-grade junction lists with the templates for exit lists. Afterwards, the templates were extended so that a table can show a separate column for any previous exit numbers that had been used, or even named interchanges. (See Ohio Turnpike and Pennsylvania Turnpike for examples.) We can even now add a state column for multi-state junction lists like on U.S. Route 491. The next update that will be activated in early 2012 will automatically add the second column to a junction list table for the metric equivalent distances.

To prepare for the change over, some changes will be required to the template formatting. The first is that if junction is listed with a range of mile posts, as with mileposts 7.886–8.776 for the US 131 interchange on the M-6 article, then the first number needs to be input using the   parameter while the second number is added to the. (There are equivalent  and   if the highway is measured in metric like Interstate 19.) Anything else except the number needs to be removed. That means if there is a footnote or the name of another highway, they have to be removed. Any non-numeric characters will produce a big, red error message once the templates are updated. The metric value will be calculated for you, so as long as the templates on the article are in proper shape, the transition should happen seamlessly. (We've already tested the changes in a sandbox.) The benefit is that as we do this, our articles will be better for international readers, and as other countries start to use the junction list templates, we will gain mileages in their junction lists as well.
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ACR processes merged

 * Contributor: Imzadi1979

Back in January, an A-Class Review (ACR) process was started for the Canada Roads WikiProject. In September, this review forum was merged with the USRD ACR and moved to the international Highways WikiProject. Since the CRWP version was essentially cloned from the USRD version, no procedural changes have been made to how ACR works save one thing. A note was added to the instructions that states: "Various national-level subprojects may have slightly different standards for articles under their scope. They will also use different variations of English. These differences will be respected and applied as appropriate." Please review the articles that have been nominated at WP:HWY/ACR, and if you know of any articles that are listed as Good Articles (GA-Class) that meet the criteria, feel free to nominate them.
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Stub drive getting toward the end

 * Contributor: Dough4872

The USRD stub drive has continued throughout the summer with the destubbing of several articles. As of October 31, the stub count for USRD is down to 2860, a decrease of 924 stubs since the last newsletter. Destubbing has taken place in several states, with Pennsylvania in particular losing a lot of stubs over the summer. The process of destubbing has also began in Texas, with the state becoming the last to get under 250 stubs. In order to meet the goal of removing 2011 stubs in 2011, 336 stubs still need to be removed before December 31. At the current time, USRD is on pace to meet the goal on exactly December 31. We would encourage editors to keep working on destubbing articles as soon as possible so we can meet our goal.


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 * State and national updates
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Assessment roundup

 * Contributor: Dough4872

In the past several months, progress was made to improve the project's articles. Iowa and Arizona both pushed under the 4.0 mark. Here's a look at the top ten as of the October 31, 2011, update. States in italics are task forces. Unlinked states have no project.

During the summer, the only change in position is that Iowa moved ahead of Arizona and Minnesota to number 8. All other states remain in the same position from the last newsletter. For updated statistics daily, check out WP:USRD/A/S.

Taking a look at the project as a whole:

Since the last newsletter, the project converted one A-class article to a featured article. In addition, there has been a gain of 21 Good Articles. Several stubs have also been removed and the project now has more Start-Class articles than stubs.
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Project reports
California has slowed down in the fall. However, over the summer all of CA was de-stubbed. We remain at 4.272 in terms of relative WikiWork. There are currently plans to clean up a lot of the articles and convert them to RJL templates to ensure full compliance with WP:RJL.—Rschen7754
 * California

While the pace of work in Maryland has slowed over the summer, there is still some nice improvement work done among the state's road articles. In the past six months, Maryland has gained three new Good Articles: Maryland Route 318, U.S. Route 15 in Maryland, and Interstate 70 in Maryland. In addition, a fact from Maryland Route 194 was featured in the Wikipedia front page's Did you know? column. Almost all articles in Carroll and Howard counties have been systematically brought up to B-Class; Baltimore County is about halfway complete. Once Baltimore County is brought up to standard, there will be three counties left to systematically improve: Anne Arundel, Prince George's, and Montgomery.—Viridiscalculus
 * Maryland

Since the spring, Michigan has had slower progress updating articles. Brockway Mountain Drive passed its FAC, and Portal:Michigan Highways passed its FPoC. U.S. Route 2 in Michigan is at ACR in preparation for an FAC nomination by the end of the year. Plans for any work on M-185 have been put on hold, but it could still be nominated at FAC before the end of the year. M-6 has been nominated to run on the Main Page as the Featured Article of the Day for November 20.—Imzadi1979
 * Michigan

Destubbing work has continued in Pennsylvania throughout the summer and into the fall. This work has brought Pennsylvania down to 57 stubs and a relative WikiWork of 4.646 as of October 31. Most recently, Pennsylvania Route 848 became a GA.—Dough4872
 * Pennsylvania

Stub reduction has begun again in Texas, with the most recent push getting the state below 250 stubs and a stub count lower than Florida and Georgia. Texas has 205 stubs and a relative WikiWork of 4.673 as of October 31.—Dough4872
 * Texas

The stub elimination drive in Virginia has picked up steam in the last six months. All Interstate Highways and all but two U.S. Route articles are at least Start-class; in addition, all state-numbered primary highways with a number less than 123 are at least Start-class, with a significant number of higher-numbered route articles de-stubbed as well. Virginia now has 181 stubs, which is a reduction of close to 50% in the past year.—Viridiscalculus
 * Virginia


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Selected articles
Route 55 is a state highway in the southern part of New Jersey, United States that is built to freeway standards. Also known as the Veterans Memorial Highway, it runs 40.54 mi from an intersection with Route 47 in Port Elizabeth north to an interchange with Route 42 in Gloucester County. The Route 55 freeway serves as a main road through Cumberland and Gloucester counties, serving Millville, Vineland, and Glassboro. It is used as a commuter route north to Philadelphia and, along with Route 47, as a route from the Delaware Valley to the Jersey Shore resorts in Cape May County. (more...)
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Selected pictures
An unused section of Interstate 189 in Burlington, Vermont, looking south U.S. Route 30 (US 30) is a major east–west U.S. Highway which spans 330 mi across the state of Iowa. It is the longest primary highway in the state and is maintained by the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT). The route in Iowa begins at the Missouri River crossing at Blair, Nebraska, and ends at the Mississippi River crossing at Clinton. Along the way, it serves Denison and Carroll in western Iowa, Boone, Ames, and Marshalltown in central Iowa, and Tama, Cedar Rapids, and DeWitt in eastern Iowa. Cutting across the central portion of the state, US 30 runs within close proximity of the Union Pacific Railroad's Overland Route for its entire length.(more...) Looking down upon South Dakota Highway 10 from a scenic overlook west of Sisseton. Minnesota State Highway 610 (MN 610) is an east–west freeway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota; located in northern Hennepin County and southern Anoka County. The freeway currently connects U.S. Highway 169 (US 169) and U.S. Highway 10 (US 10). MN 610 crosses the Mississippi River on the Richard P. Braun Bridge between suburban Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids. The freeway was authorized in 1975, and the currently open sections were completed by 2000. There is a segment that is planned to run westward to end at Interstate 94 (I-94), but current construction by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) will only extend as far west as County Road 81 (CR 81) in Maple Grove.(more...) The Seven Mile Bridge connects Big Pine Key and Marathon along U.S. Route 1 in Florida. Interstate 40 (I-40) is an east–west Interstate Highway that has a 359.6 mi section in the U.S. state of Arizona connecting sections in California to New Mexico. It enters Arizona from the west at a crossing of the Colorado River southwest of Kingman. It travels eastward across the northern portion of the state connecting the cities of Kingman, Ash Fork, Williams, Flagstaff, Winslow, and Holbrook. I-40 continues into New Mexico, heading to Albuquerque. The highway has major junctions with U.S. Route 93 (US 93) in Kingman, the main highway connecting Phoenix and Las Vegas, Nevada, and I-17 in Flagstaff, the Interstate linking Phoenix and Flagstaff. For the majority of its routing through Arizona, I-40 follows the historic alignment of U.S. Route 66. The lone exception is a stretch between Kingman and Ash Fork where US 66 took a more northerly, less direct route that is now State Route 66. Construction of I-40 was ongoing in the 1960s and 1970s and reached completion in 1984. With the completion of I-40 in 1984, the entire routing of US 66 had been bypassed by Interstate Highways which led to its decertification a year later in 1985. (more...) Cirrus clouds hover over Pennsylvania Route 144 in Noyes Township, Clinton County. The Capitol Loop is a state trunkline highway running through Lansing, Michigan, in the United States that was commissioned on October 13, 1989. It forms a loop route off Interstate 496 (I-496) through downtown near the Michigan State Capitol complex, home of the state legislature and several state departments. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has labeled it as Capitol Loop I-496 or CL I-496 on some maps, similar to the Business Loop Interstate nomenclature. However, unlike other business loops in Michigan, it has unique reassurance markers—the signs that serve as regular reminders of the name and number of the highway. It is known internally at MDOT as Connector 496 for inventory purposes. The route follows a series of one-way and two-way streets through downtown Lansing, directing traffic downtown to the State Capitol and other government buildings. Unlike the other streets downtown, the seven streets comprising the Capitol Loop are under state maintenance and jurisdiction.(more...) U.S. Route 550 crosses the San Juan Mountains via the Molas Pass. Interstate 80 Business (BL-80) is a business loop of Interstate 80 (I-80) that is 2.26 mi long and serves as the main street for the towns of West Wendover, Nevada and Wendover, Utah along a roadway named Wendover Boulevard. Wendover Boulevard was originally part of U.S. Route 40 (US 40), which connected California to New Jersey via Nevada and Utah. A portion of the Nevada segment is concurrent with U.S. Route 93 Alternate (US 93 Alt.), and the entire portion in Utah is coterminous with Utah State Route 58 (SR-58). The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT) applied for the business loop designation in the early 1980s but the designation has never been approved, despite signs being posted in both states. Between July 1976 and 1993, BL-80 was concurrent with State Route 224 (SR 224) in Nevada.(more...)
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Interstate 70 approaching its interchange with U.S. Route 522 in Hancock, Maryland. In the background is the cut in Sideling Hill through which Interstate 68 passes on its way toward Cumberland.
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From the editors
The next quarterly issue should be out in January. 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 the winter. 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

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