Portal talk:U.S. roads

2580 articles

Is that number still correct? I was managing stubs yesterday and we might have more than that. --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 20:37, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I wouldn't be shocked if the actual number is now double that figure, honestly. --TMF ^{Let's Go Mets - Stats} 04:52, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Headline of the netherlands motorways are all wrong

Because there is no portal for roads but only for US roads, I want to ask here: I would be thankful, if the road specialists could have a look here: Portal talk:Transport#Headline of the netherlands motorways are all wrong Thank you -- 84.132.101.93 10:18, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

U.S. Roads or North American Roads

In the early morning of September 21, I moved this page to Portal:North American Roads and enlarged the scope. (The portal currently reflects the expansion, despite the name.) My thought process was sparked by Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. Roads#Possible "news" page?, where I was told that the portal needed a "steady maintainer". With the interconnectedness of North American roads, it seemed like a logical move. As other editors (presumably) woke up, they objected, and Rschen7754 started moving pages back in preparation to split. That explains the present state, left as a "compromise" to stop the threat of an edit war. --NE2 23:42, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

There seem to be three options:

1. Change it back to U.S. Roads
2. Keep it changed to North American Roads
3. Split it into two portals

Please discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each below:

U.S. Roads only

Advantages

• Status quo
• More of a focus can be placed on U.S. Roads
• Portal was adequately maintained by one familiar with the subject

Disadvantages

North American Roads only

Advantages

1. Expands the scope so more people may be interested in helping
2. Combines interconnected road systems
3. Encourages improvement of Mexican and Canadian road articles

• This would happen under the third proposal as well...
  • Not as much, especially if nobody cares to maintain a largely duplicate portal... --NE2 00:16, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
    • Why? Because CRWP would be piggybacking off the publicity of USRD? --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:19, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
      • This has nothing to do with projects. Portals are about subjects. --NE2 00:27, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Unless of course, consensus decided that it is time to elect a Project Lead team (ala WP:MilHist's example). Either just for CRWP or the entire portal project. Is that a "road worth traveling"? Exit2DOS2000^•T•C• 14:21, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Disadvantages

1. Groups the "crappy" Canadian Roads WikiProject with the supposedly better U.S. Roads WikiProject
2. There are less than 20 Mexican road articles

• But it would create 'CookieTemplates' for them to draw ideas from when they do get larger

Both portals

Advantages

• Supposedly a compromise

• Compromise to what? master son^{T - C} 00:32, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • Between U.S. roads only and North American roads only. --NE2 00:42, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Disadvantages

• Splits effort among two portals, when one was apparently not being maintained well

• I'm curious as to what's wrong with it that its not being maintained master son^{T - C} 00:32, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
• I echo Master_son's comments. The portal was maintained on a regular basis. --TMF ^{Let's Go Mets - Stats} 02:26, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
  • So Scott5114 misspoke on WT:USRD? --NE2 02:43, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
    • I believe so, TMF did keep the portal maintained. --Rschen7754 (T C) 02:45, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
      • So should I start the "news" page? I have no interest in running a duplicate portal. (To avoid misunderstandings, I'm not saying I support moving it back; I'm just asking what the "USRD collective" thinks.) --NE2 02:47, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
        • Are you referring to the USRD news page? --Rschen7754 (T C) 02:50, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
          • I'm referring to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. Roads#Possible "news" page?. I think there's merit in keeping track of road news without regard for national boundaries. --NE2 02:52, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
            • Apart from the roads portal, potentially. --Rschen7754 (T C) 02:54, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
              • Why not do it as a subpage of WP:HWY? Or you could just read MTR...—Scott5114↗ 03:02, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Discussion

• Go back to U.S. Roads only. I could support two portals, but under no circumstances should the USRD portal be merged into the NA portal. --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:03, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
• My preference: retain the U.S. road one, then create a generic road portal if necessary. --TMF ^{Let's Go Mets - Stats} 02:28, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
• I saw no problems with the portal the way it was as the USRD portal. I think it should be moved back. -- JA10 Talk • Contribs 22:39, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
• It should remain as is - if someone wants to start a Portal:Canadian Roads I'm fine with that. But NA roads seems kind of silly. There's not even a NA Roads project. --Son 13:36, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
• Keep P:USRD as-is, since it seems clear that nobody likes the NA Roads idea. I'm all for a world roads (highways) portal, since there are hell lot more roads in the world, especially Canada and China. —O (说 • 喝) 23:18, 24 September 2007 (GMT)
• This portal never had any problems as it is - by renaming it - it becomes more prone to problems - and the portal's scope was well established already. Why fix something that isn't broken. That said - if CRWP wants a portal - they can create one. This one shall stay as is master son^{T - C} 03:27, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
  • clarification - this one shall be U.S. Roads master son^{T - C} 02:14, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
• I've created Portal:Roads yesterday, with a scope set on roads around the world. This would be a child portal under the Roads portal. Comments? —O (说 • 喝) 00:05, 28 September 2007 (GMT)

I think that consensus should be pretty clear now. I'll move the portal over the next few days. --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:09, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

Utility of outlines to wikiprojects

Here's a discussion about subject development you might find interesting.

The Transhumanist 22:02, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Some ideas for the portal

1. With the exception of the news section and maybe DYK, we select the content for the portal a month ahead of time. The advantage is that if on 2/1 we know what article will appear on 3/1, that gives someone 4 weeks to edit the blurb, find a photo (not the shield graphic, please! that gets old) and put it in the templates so it goes live on 3/1 at midnight. Then while the March content is being readied, we can be deciding on the April content. Wash, rinse, repeat.
2. Can we rotate out the shield graphics at the top of the portal occasionally? Maybe 2-4 times a year?
3. I don't want this to be a rule, but maybe a guideline, to try to find seasonally appropriate photos for the portal? I know that snowy scenes aren't the most common way we roadgeeks photograph the highways, and many areas don't receive snow in the winter, but maybe some fall color in the fall would be nice? I know there are some winter photos out there, those of us in the northern states should seek some out, and add them to the articles.
4. Maybe we could even create a gallery space on Commons or here where anyone can add promising photos at any time, and we'd have a gallery to look through to simplify nominations. If I'm working through a random article, and I see a good photo or two in there, I can add it to the gallery so non-Michigan editors can see some things I like from Michigan. Then when it comes time to make some nominations, there might be a Florida photo in there that catches my eye that I could nominate?

Just my $0.08 for today. Imzadi1979 (talk) 18:31, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Portal:United States

Know that WPUS is up and running and the US Wikipedian's collaboration is rebuilt, I wanted to focus on cleaning up and revamping Portal:United States. Per a comment on the talk page I have added this portal to the list of US related portals.

I was also wondering if anyone would be interested in adding a Selected article related to the US roads to the list of featured articles. If not perhaps you could suggest one and I will add it? --Kumioko (talk) 17:03, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

There are some suggestions at WT:USRD. --PCB 04:54, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

April Fools Day 2011

All right, who did the Portland joke? That's the best material I've ever seen on here. :) —Scott5114↗ [EXACT CHANGE ONLY] 13:47, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I wrote the joke you saw, but the assist goes to Daniel Case (talk · contribs). –Fredddie™ 23:59, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Portal talk:Molecular and Cellular Biology which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 07:30, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Notice from the Portals WikiProject

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The project was rebooted and completely overhauled on April 17th, 2018. Its goals are to revitalize the entire portal system, make building and maintaining portals easier, support the ongoing improvement of portals and the editors dedicated to this, and design the portals of the future.

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From your friendly neighborhood Portals WikiProject. Hope to see you there. Sincerely,    — The Transhumanist   07:48, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Portal talk:Canada Roads which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 14:45, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 24 May 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved per consensus, and per MOS:CAPS. Consistency with other wikiproject/portal titles, by following MOS:CAPS. The sole opposer did not provide any logical rationale, nor any policy. —usernamekiran(talk) 17:55, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

---

• Portal:U.S. Roads → Portal:U.S. roads
• Portal:California Roads → Portal:California roads
• Portal:Maryland Roads → Portal:Maryland roads
• Portal:Michigan Highways → Portal:Michigan highways
• Portal:New York Roads → Portal:New York roads
• Portal:Washington Roads → Portal:Washington roads

– Case fix per MOS:CAPS since these titles show up in article space. Per precedents at Portal:Canada Roads and Portal:Civil rights movement, and the vast majority of portal titles that already conform to MOS:CAPS. Support as nom, obviously. Dicklyon (talk) 04:37, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

• Oppose all—for the fourth time, no. Imzadi 1979 → 05:03, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  Your position that "they're named for their corresponding WikiProjects and follow the proper names of those" has been explicitly rejected wherever tested; why not go with that consensus? Dicklyon (talk) 20:53, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  I can still register my continued opposition even if I accept that my position may not carry the day. Discussions like these do not have to be unanimous in the end, and my objections can still be noted for the record. Obstructionism would be to launch a filibuster or some other action not possible in these forums where one person can't prevent a consensus. Imzadi 1979 → 21:18, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  Yes, your opinion is welcome, though I can't resist trying to sway it. Dicklyon (talk) 21:25, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  Side comment, but there is a proper name for the highway system in Michigan, the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System, so a possible slight tweak of the scope would allow us to name the portal after that name. Furthermore, I do have an objection now to the inconsistency that's being created in portal names now that we have Portal:Roads of Canada but Portal:Australian roads. Also, no comments regarding whether or not to drop the periods in "US" in line with modern style guides, or to expand the abbreviation to "United States"? Lots of discussion to be had before enacting any of the proposed moves. Imzadi 1979 → 21:22, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  I wouldn't think that changing the scope in order to fit a proper name would be a great approach in general. Maybe Portal:Michigan roads would be good? I'm open to other consistency changes, though I think finding a universal happy format might not be so easy. Dicklyon (talk) 21:25, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

  As for changing U.S. to US or United States, I don't have an opinion except that such side issues should not derail the progress of case fixing that we're trying to get done here. That can be discussed and implemented as a next step. Dicklyon (talk) 23:02, 24 May 2018 (UTC

  The last two editions of Chicago Manual of Style have removed their previous insistence on U dot S dot. But it's not a big deal for me if people object to the modern version in specific cases. @Imzadi1979:: it would be helpful to hear your substantive reasoning, briefly—as frustrating as it must be to have to repeat it. The reasons for downcasing are still hanging around, even if you disagree with them. Tony (talk) 15:35, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

  @Tony1: I have two reasons. One to which Dicklyon alluded above is that this portal is named consistent with its parent project, WP:WikiProject U.S. Roads, and it would look wrong after 13 years to capitalize that name differently, and I regard both as proper names after this length of time.

  The second reason is much more substantive. I regard portals as akin to a publication as a collection of content. Until the MOS says that we have to call it the New York times, then I don't see a problem with these portals remaining titled as they are.

  As for "U.S." vs. "US", I do have a preference for dropping the periods in the context of highways going forward, because the abbreviated version of highway names already omits them. See the mixed up mess that is "U.S. Route 41"/"U.S. Highway 41", which is abbreviated "US 41" and compare that to the text within U.S. Route 41 in Michigan. (WP:USSH says we consistently title those highways as "U.S. Route X" but notes for prose that in some states the correct name would be "U.S. Highway X".) The Michigan articles dropped the periods to comply with CMOS 16 and MOS:US and to be consistent between the full name and abbreviation. Imzadi 1979 → 21:47, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

  We agree on U dot S dot. But your reasoning for retaining the cap is very weak. Tony (talk) 02:27, 26 May 2018 (UTC)

• Support—since when did we allow portals to defy our capping guidelines for general text and article titles??? Tony (talk) 05:52, 24 May 2018 (UTC)
• Support, for the fourth time yes, because that's where the consensus is. Continuing to oppose just to oppose out of stubbornness after repeatedly not getting one's way is anti-consensus obstructionism. WP is a sentence-case site for all public-facing material, from articles to categories. Portals are not a magical exception.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  15:16, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

---

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

@Usernamekiran and Dicklyon: there's still outstanding questions left to be resolved, "U.S." vs. "US" vs. "United States", so it's a bit premature to start moving anything just yet since it would be highly disruptive to move things multiple times. Imzadi 1979 → 20:01, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

It's really no harder to address that question now rather than later. Probably easier, actually. But we can go ahead and do the case fix moves in any case; moves are easy, even with sub-pages. Dicklyon (talk) 03:57, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

@Usernamekiran and Imzadi1979:—I wonder whether there would be any more than the odd traditionalist objection to removing the clunky dots. They remain in officil titles (U.S. Department of ... etc), but Chicago Manual of Style has been saying it's fine to drop them—for years now—having insisted on them until the start of this decade. I think many Americans don't use them; and hardly anyone in handwriting. Who would bother? Tony (talk) 04:27, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

It's uncontroversial by me. Dicklyon (talk) 04:45, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Portal:North American Roads listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Portal:North American Roads. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Legacypac (talk) 19:18, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

Every road?

Does every road in America deserve an article? People go crazy over notability for people. Does it apply to what roads are important and those that are not? Eschoryii (talk) 08:50, 27 April 2019 (UTC)

I read the portal page. No one needs to respond to my inquiry. Eschoryii (talk) 09:07, 27 April 2019 (UTC)

Historic list of "roads made, or in progress"--where should this go?

On January 23, 1818, President James Monroe issued a list of information on "roads made, or in progress, under the authority of the Executive of the United States" that describes--perhaps loosely--the precursors to the American highway system, or at least, Federally-built roads. I can't seem to find a good place for this data, any thoughts on where it could be useful? Wrecksdart (talk) 14:57, 28 June 2023 (UTC)

"P:USRD/AFD" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect P:USRD/AFD has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 January 20 § P:USRD/AFD until a consensus is reached. Utopes _{(talk / cont)} 18:38, 20 January 2024 (UTC)