Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Roads/Subprojects

This page deals with the creation of new subprojects, the demotion of existing subprojects to task forces of WP:USRD, and the promotion of task forces to subprojects. News is posted on this page, with discussion occurring on the talk page.

USRD, subprojects, and task forces

 * Note: all of the subprojects have been converted into task forces. The old text is left below for historical purposes.

The standard method of operation for USRD is to coordinate national initiatives, such as standardization of things like article structure, infoboxes, and exit lists. USRD also supplies facilities for article editors to use, such as the A-Class review page, assessment tracking, maps and shields request pages, and more. It is also responsible for national-level articles such as those about Interstates and U.S. Routes. Meanwhile, the subprojects, each of which covers one state, consist of editors highly focused on one or two states, and who do the majority of the article work. State subprojects can set limited standards that apply to their state only, to resolve any conflicts that arise when USRD standards do not work well with the unique situation that exists in their states.

Subprojects that are inactive or states whose edits consist solely of minor edits from USRD members may be demoted to a task force. Task forces are more closely tied to USRD than full subprojects are. Once demoted, USRD may act more closely with the articles in the task force to guard against vandalism and similar article degradation, because typically no editors interested in that state are around to maintain the articles. Should activity levels pick up, and the articles become more actively patrolled against degradation, then it is possible to re-promote the task force back to a subproject.

Subprojects are usually demoted to task force solely due to activity levels, not due to article quality. If a project is legitimately active, yet not producing quality articles, an attempted demotion to task force usually will only breed enmity between editors of that project and USRD, and is not recommended.

Demotion of a subproject should be seen as a protective measure signifying a change in the level of involvement that USRD has with a project. It is not to be seen as a dissolution of the subproject, nor as a warning or declaration of ownership to prevent users from editing the articles in that subproject.

Existing taskforces

 * Alabama
 * California
 * Connecticut
 * Delaware
 * Florida
 * Georgia
 * Illinois
 * Indiana
 * Iowa
 * Kansas
 * Kentucky
 * Louisiana
 * Maryland
 * Massachusetts
 * Michigan
 * Minnesota
 * Missouri
 * Nebraska
 * Nevada
 * New Hampshire
 * New Jersey
 * New York
 * North Carolina
 * Ohio
 * Oklahoma
 * Oregon
 * Pennsylvania
 * Rhode Island
 * South Carolina
 * Tennessee
 * Texas
 * Utah
 * Vermont
 * Virginia
 * Washington
 * West Virginia
 * Wisconsin
 * Auto Trails
 * U.S. Route 66

Chronology

 * 2007-03-16: The Kentucky and Utah subprojects were demoted to task force status after the IRC meeting. Alabama, Nevada, and South Carolina subprojects were considered for demotion.
 * 2007-03-24: The Alabama, Nevada, and South Carolina subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2007-06-18: The Kentucky task force was promoted to project status.
 * 2007-08-04: The newly created Nevada State County Routes subproject was folded into the Nevada task force.
 * 2007-11-10: The newly created Louisiana subproject (recently created) was demoted to a task force due to a poorly designed page. The page has since been cleaned up, and the project can be promoted in the future if enough interest in the project is found and the quality of the articles (many are stubs and are flagged for attention) improves.
 * 2007-12-10: Following a discussion on the Subprojects talk page, the Tennessee subproject was created.
 * 2007-12-24: The Harrisburg (PA) Area Roads subproject was demoted to the Susquehanna Valley Task Force of the Pennsylvania subproject.
 * 2007-12-27: Following a discussion on the Subprojects talk page, the auto trails task force was created.
 * 2008-02-12: The California County Roads subproject was demoted to a task force of the California subproject.
 * 2008-04-25: Following a discussion on the Subprojects talk page, the Kansas subproject was demoted to task force status.
 * 2008-05-17: The Utah task force was promoted to project status.
 * 2008-09-01: The New York subproject seceded from USRD.
 * 2008-09-26: The New York subproject returns to USRD.
 * 2010-01-05: The Connecticut, Illinois, and Indiana subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2010-01-07: The Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraska suprojects were demoted to task force status. Proposals to demote the Florida and Massachusetts subprojects to task force status failed; thus, Florida and Massachusetts retain their subproject status.
 * 2010-01-16: The New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2010-01-24: The Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2010-02-27: The California County Routes task force was removed.
 * 2011-01-04: The Georgia, Oregon and Rhode Island subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2011-06-01: The Florida County Routes task force was merged into Florida State Routes subproject.
 * 2012-01-21: The Delaware task force was created.
 * 2012-01-23: The Massachusetts and Washington subprojects were demoted to task force status.
 * 2012-01-23: As part of the discussion regarding the restructuring of USRD, all remaining subprojects except for Maryland, Minnesota, and New York were demoted.
 * 2012-01-25: The Maryland subproject was demoted to task force status.
 * 2012-01-30: The Minnesota subproject was demoted to task force status.
 * 2013-10-22: The New York subproject was demoted to task force status.