The notability of state highway articles in the United States is being challenged again. Debates on this topic have happened periodically since before I've been an editor here, and I joined in October 2005. In this essay, I will lay out my position, which is that editors on Wikipedia are not in a position to substitute their judgement on the definition of a state highway, and applications of the notability guidelines have strayed from the actual text of the guideline.
Definitions matter
As wikipedians, we follow the sources, and when a state department of transporation (DOT) defines a specific roadway as a state highway, it is a state highway. The state has determined that the roadway has some important function or advancing some priority, thus it has been placed in a state highway system. There are any number of reasons for this, but we are not allowed to dispute that definition and substitute our our opinions or judgements. If we did, we'd violate the policy on original research. If the roadway wasn't worthy of inclusion as a state highway, it would be relegated to a different roadway system. Roads that no longer serve the function of a state highway are routinely turned over to local governments for maintenance. [1]
If we were to substitute our judgement for that of the state DOT in terms of defining what is a state highway, we would be violating our policy on original research.
So why is this definition so important? The fact that a state has designated a roadway as part of the state highway system carries great significance. I've given the statistics on Michigan elsewhere, but let's look at them on South Dakota from SDDOT. The state has 7,793 miles (12,542 km) of roadways in its state highway system. These highways comprise 9% of the roadways in the state. They carried 82% of the traffic in the state, and some 6.6 billion vehicle-miles, in 2020. Roughly speaking, state highways in South Dakota carry just over 9.1 times the traffic you'd expect if all roads carried the same volume. These numbers are similar to Michigan where 9,649 miles (15,529 km) of state highways or 8% of 122,040 miles (196,404 km) of roadway in the state carry 52% of the traffic (44.5 billion vehicle-miles on state highways vs. 41.8 billion vehicle-miles on all non-highways). These numbers also indicate why the state highways are more important as a class than local roadways maintained by county or municipal governments. The fact is, in general, the roadways chosen to be included in a state's (primary) highway system are more important than the rest of the state's roadways. In short, a (primary) state highway designation is a consistent proxy for this importance. [2]
Highway articles matter
Wikipedia for years has had a basic mission: to be an encyclopedia that anyone can edit. In furtherance of our mission as an encyclopedia, Jimmy Wales has given us a prime directive: "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing [here]." Each of us edits on topics that interest us. We freely give our time and expertise to contribute to the summation of human knowledge we're building here, and for a handful of editors, that includes articles on our important roadways.
State highway systems, as demonstrated above, are important to the transportation needs of a state. No one in their right mind would argue against including an article on an overall state highway system in Wikipedia. The trouble is that to have a complete picture of the nuances of such a system, we will quickly run into issues of size. Based on summary style, subtopics are split out. Michigan State Trunkline Highway System does not try to even list each state trunkline highway because of space considerations. Thus we have List of Interstate Highways in Michigan, List of U.S. Highways in Michigan, List of state trunkline highways in Michigan and Pure Michigan Byway. Even they can't cover more than a very basic statistical overview on each, which is why we have separate articles on individual state highways. Some, for matters of editing convenience are grouped into listicles or merged into sections on related highways. There are a minority that lack even that, but as time allows, additional separate articles, like M-186 (1932–1939 Michigan highway), are being created because there is too much information to leave out of the 'pedia and still give that nuanced view of the overall State Trunkline Highway System.
Notability guidelines matter
With that, I will turn to one last topic. For many years, we've used the word "notability" as a term of art or a shorthand for topics that have been deemed worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia. While Jimmy's prime directive above is a noble goal, it is impractical not to set some limits if for no reason other than sheer practicality in editing. In our context, it would be impractical to include an article on every roadway. In Marquette County, Michigan, there are over 1,000 distinct roads and streets based on the index in the county plat atlas. There are 82 more counties in the state, so assuming for a moment that Marquette County is representative, that would mean 83,000 articles to research, write and maintain. Thus, long ago, we followed the example of our state DOTs and drew the line at state highways. If a particular roadway was important enough to be included in the small fraction of roads that carries the most traffic, then it was important enough for us to include.
At the time, subject notability guidelines, both augmented and substituted for the general notability guideline in determining whether or not to include an article on a subject. If a subject met either an SNG in that topic area or the GNG, we presumed it should have an article. So if a roadway was a state highway, our SNG said we include an article on it. If it isn't a state highway, like Brockway Mountain Drive, which is owned and maintained by the Keweenaw County Road Commission, if failed to pass the SNG on roads. That roadway meets the GNG, so it has an article. Somewhere along the way though, it has become fashionable to try to subordinate the SNGs to GNG. This newer approach contradicts the wording of WP:Notability, specifically:
A topic is presumed to merit an article if:
- It meets either the general notability guideline (GNG) below, or the criteria outlined in a subject-specific notability guideline (SNG) listed in the box on the right; and
- It is not excluded under the What Wikipedia is not policy.
WP:GEOROAD, the SNG on roadways, is part of Wikipedia:Notability (geographic features), which is in that box on the right. Thus, based on the wording of the Notability guideline itself, if a roadway meets the GEOROAD test, it does not have to meet GNG. GEOROAD is itself based on the history of articles nominated at VfD (yes, we've been dealing with this stuff since 2005 and earlier) and AfD. That history reflects the importance distinction made when a roadway is considered a (primary) state highway discussed above.
That leaves the second prong to the Notability guideline, WP:NOT. On a topical level, none of WP:NOT applies to the topic of a roadway in general. That leaves the policy against original research implicated by WP:NOT. As noted in an RfC earlier this year, translating information off a map is not original research when done faithfully and correctly any more than summarizing the plot of a novel or translating a foreign language to English is original research. One can quibble about specific source–text connections in regards to the OR policy, but that is a content issue, not a notability issue.
Summary
In summation:
- In the realm of roadways in a US state, those classified as a state highway are more important than the other roadways in that state. Statistics bear out that these roads are more important based on their relative rarity and disproportionate level of traffic. Or put another away, there's a reason a state's department of transportation has gone to the trouble of designating, signing and maintaining the roads that it does, or else they'd be part of a different road system or maintained by a different level of government.
- It is not up to Wikipedia editors to apply their personal notions of which roadways count as true state highways or not. If the DOT defines a road as one, that is the end of the discussion on the matter.
- The Notability guideline itself says that we apply a subject-specific notability guideline or the general notability guideline in determining if a topic warrants an article. Applying GNG alone is not correct.
- The SNG on roadways calls out state highways as "typically notable". A very large proportion of VfDs and AfDs over the years have kept articles on state highways, and this SNG reflects that. There are edge cases, but the discussions have reinforced the scheme from GEOROAD.
Notes
- ^ For instance, as Michigan built Interstate 96 parallel to the US Highway 16 corridor across the state in the 1950s through the 1960s, US Highway 16 was moved to the new freeway from Grand River Avenue, and that latter roadway was turned over to local control because its function had been usurped by the newer freeway.
- ^ For this discussion, I'm skipping over situations like Kentucky or Virginia where there is not a county road system, and the state maintains a much larger proportion of roadways. In those cases though, state highways are classified as primary or secondary, and those secondary highways are analogous to county roads in other states. In West Virginia, the state maintains a class of roadways called county routes, and they fit the same pattern of a secondary classification scheme. Puerto Rico and Ontario also have tertiary highways, which are given proportionally less priority for articles than secondary highways.
The notability of state highway articles in the United States is being challenged again. Debates on this topic have happened periodically since before I've been an editor here, and I joined in October 2005. In this essay, I will lay out my position, which is that editors on Wikipedia are not in a position to substitute their judgement on the definition of a state highway, and applications of the notability guidelines have strayed from the actual text of the guideline.
Definitions matter
As wikipedians, we follow the sources, and when a state department of transporation (DOT) defines a specific roadway as a state highway, it is a state highway. The state has determined that the roadway has some important function or advancing some priority, thus it has been placed in a state highway system. There are any number of reasons for this, but we are not allowed to dispute that definition and substitute our our opinions or judgements. If we did, we'd violate the policy on original research. If the roadway wasn't worthy of inclusion as a state highway, it would be relegated to a different roadway system. Roads that no longer serve the function of a state highway are routinely turned over to local governments for maintenance. [1]
If we were to substitute our judgement for that of the state DOT in terms of defining what is a state highway, we would be violating our policy on original research.
So why is this definition so important? The fact that a state has designated a roadway as part of the state highway system carries great significance. I've given the statistics on Michigan elsewhere, but let's look at them on South Dakota from SDDOT. The state has 7,793 miles (12,542 km) of roadways in its state highway system. These highways comprise 9% of the roadways in the state. They carried 82% of the traffic in the state, and some 6.6 billion vehicle-miles, in 2020. Roughly speaking, state highways in South Dakota carry just over 9.1 times the traffic you'd expect if all roads carried the same volume. These numbers are similar to Michigan where 9,649 miles (15,529 km) of state highways or 8% of 122,040 miles (196,404 km) of roadway in the state carry 52% of the traffic (44.5 billion vehicle-miles on state highways vs. 41.8 billion vehicle-miles on all non-highways). These numbers also indicate why the state highways are more important as a class than local roadways maintained by county or municipal governments. The fact is, in general, the roadways chosen to be included in a state's (primary) highway system are more important than the rest of the state's roadways. In short, a (primary) state highway designation is a consistent proxy for this importance. [2]
Highway articles matter
Wikipedia for years has had a basic mission: to be an encyclopedia that anyone can edit. In furtherance of our mission as an encyclopedia, Jimmy Wales has given us a prime directive: "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing [here]." Each of us edits on topics that interest us. We freely give our time and expertise to contribute to the summation of human knowledge we're building here, and for a handful of editors, that includes articles on our important roadways.
State highway systems, as demonstrated above, are important to the transportation needs of a state. No one in their right mind would argue against including an article on an overall state highway system in Wikipedia. The trouble is that to have a complete picture of the nuances of such a system, we will quickly run into issues of size. Based on summary style, subtopics are split out. Michigan State Trunkline Highway System does not try to even list each state trunkline highway because of space considerations. Thus we have List of Interstate Highways in Michigan, List of U.S. Highways in Michigan, List of state trunkline highways in Michigan and Pure Michigan Byway. Even they can't cover more than a very basic statistical overview on each, which is why we have separate articles on individual state highways. Some, for matters of editing convenience are grouped into listicles or merged into sections on related highways. There are a minority that lack even that, but as time allows, additional separate articles, like M-186 (1932–1939 Michigan highway), are being created because there is too much information to leave out of the 'pedia and still give that nuanced view of the overall State Trunkline Highway System.
Notability guidelines matter
With that, I will turn to one last topic. For many years, we've used the word "notability" as a term of art or a shorthand for topics that have been deemed worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia. While Jimmy's prime directive above is a noble goal, it is impractical not to set some limits if for no reason other than sheer practicality in editing. In our context, it would be impractical to include an article on every roadway. In Marquette County, Michigan, there are over 1,000 distinct roads and streets based on the index in the county plat atlas. There are 82 more counties in the state, so assuming for a moment that Marquette County is representative, that would mean 83,000 articles to research, write and maintain. Thus, long ago, we followed the example of our state DOTs and drew the line at state highways. If a particular roadway was important enough to be included in the small fraction of roads that carries the most traffic, then it was important enough for us to include.
At the time, subject notability guidelines, both augmented and substituted for the general notability guideline in determining whether or not to include an article on a subject. If a subject met either an SNG in that topic area or the GNG, we presumed it should have an article. So if a roadway was a state highway, our SNG said we include an article on it. If it isn't a state highway, like Brockway Mountain Drive, which is owned and maintained by the Keweenaw County Road Commission, if failed to pass the SNG on roads. That roadway meets the GNG, so it has an article. Somewhere along the way though, it has become fashionable to try to subordinate the SNGs to GNG. This newer approach contradicts the wording of WP:Notability, specifically:
A topic is presumed to merit an article if:
- It meets either the general notability guideline (GNG) below, or the criteria outlined in a subject-specific notability guideline (SNG) listed in the box on the right; and
- It is not excluded under the What Wikipedia is not policy.
WP:GEOROAD, the SNG on roadways, is part of Wikipedia:Notability (geographic features), which is in that box on the right. Thus, based on the wording of the Notability guideline itself, if a roadway meets the GEOROAD test, it does not have to meet GNG. GEOROAD is itself based on the history of articles nominated at VfD (yes, we've been dealing with this stuff since 2005 and earlier) and AfD. That history reflects the importance distinction made when a roadway is considered a (primary) state highway discussed above.
That leaves the second prong to the Notability guideline, WP:NOT. On a topical level, none of WP:NOT applies to the topic of a roadway in general. That leaves the policy against original research implicated by WP:NOT. As noted in an RfC earlier this year, translating information off a map is not original research when done faithfully and correctly any more than summarizing the plot of a novel or translating a foreign language to English is original research. One can quibble about specific source–text connections in regards to the OR policy, but that is a content issue, not a notability issue.
Summary
In summation:
- In the realm of roadways in a US state, those classified as a state highway are more important than the other roadways in that state. Statistics bear out that these roads are more important based on their relative rarity and disproportionate level of traffic. Or put another away, there's a reason a state's department of transportation has gone to the trouble of designating, signing and maintaining the roads that it does, or else they'd be part of a different road system or maintained by a different level of government.
- It is not up to Wikipedia editors to apply their personal notions of which roadways count as true state highways or not. If the DOT defines a road as one, that is the end of the discussion on the matter.
- The Notability guideline itself says that we apply a subject-specific notability guideline or the general notability guideline in determining if a topic warrants an article. Applying GNG alone is not correct.
- The SNG on roadways calls out state highways as "typically notable". A very large proportion of VfDs and AfDs over the years have kept articles on state highways, and this SNG reflects that. There are edge cases, but the discussions have reinforced the scheme from GEOROAD.
Notes
- ^ For instance, as Michigan built Interstate 96 parallel to the US Highway 16 corridor across the state in the 1950s through the 1960s, US Highway 16 was moved to the new freeway from Grand River Avenue, and that latter roadway was turned over to local control because its function had been usurped by the newer freeway.
- ^ For this discussion, I'm skipping over situations like Kentucky or Virginia where there is not a county road system, and the state maintains a much larger proportion of roadways. In those cases though, state highways are classified as primary or secondary, and those secondary highways are analogous to county roads in other states. In West Virginia, the state maintains a class of roadways called county routes, and they fit the same pattern of a secondary classification scheme. Puerto Rico and Ontario also have tertiary highways, which are given proportionally less priority for articles than secondary highways.