Talk:Semi-highway

Verify/Merge

I've never heard this used as an official term. The 'references' listed don't even use this term. I don't think this is a distinct concept from a two-lane freeway. I believe that if 'semi-highway' were used in American English it would imply a highway for or mainly used by heavy trucks (semis). If this can't be resolved the article should be merged with two-lane freeway.Synchronism (talk) 04:40, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I disagree. The semi-highway article should simply be deleted as a neologism and original research created by someone who's not a native speaker of English. --Coolcaesar (talk) 07:29, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Fair enough, especially if the highly active creator won't discuss this. I guess it is unlikely that this article could truly be verified. This article was nominated for deletion as a part of its inclusion to the Wiktionary. The author, user:admiralNorton, removed that tag and others after after that point. I'm not sure if a prod:concern tag can be applied or how to begin this process. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Synchronism (talk • contribs) 06:46, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I apologize for coming in late to this discussion because I overlooked this on my watchlist. The reason I have removed the tags in the first place was the expansion of the article, outlined as a suggestion in the {{TWCleanup}} template: "Expand it beyond a dictionary article and remove this notice." If Coolcaesar thinks only native English speakers hold the privilege to edit and create road terminology articles on English Wikipedia, I do not concur with his opinion. I have also lived in the US for a short while and I know what is considered a highway, a freeway and an expressway there. However, this article is not about the US, and simply the fact that the terms "semi-highway" and "half-motorway" haven't found use there doesn't mean they should automatically be deleted as neologisms.

As I have outlined before, a semi-highway and a two-lane freeway differ in an important premise, which shows that a two-lane freeway is a simple undivided two-lane road which will be upgraded if the traffic volume requires it (I believe any state route in any country would satisfy this criteria, should we merge that article?). On the other hand, a semi-highway is a highway/motorway/freeway/Autobahn (I don't care how do you call that thing, I'll call it mega-road from now on), which has only one roadway built and the other one in construction or awaiting funds. The traffic volume has already been met and an upgrade to a full mega-road is in progress. Also, semi-highway is fully grade-separated, without at-grade intersections and level crossings. The US rarely builds actual highways, so the drivers are stuck with besieged two-lane roads and told the roads are awaiting higher traffic volume. There are such roads in Europe (e.g. Istrian Y in Croatia), but they're much rarer. I believe Synchronism's misconception hails from that fact.

If you're really going to push this, it may be better to rename the article to "half-motorway," as it's the term more often used by governments and national highway/freeway concession companies in countries of south and central Europe, such as HUKA - Croatian association of highway concessioners, ASECAP, Montenegrin government, etc. Terms semi-highway and half-motorway also also in regular use in other English-language correspondence of these countries (e.g. a letter by CEKOR (Serbia), COST 323, an EU-subsidized weigh-in-motion project, a Thessaloniki-based organization devoted to improving the state of Pan-European corridor X, etc.)

An important fact we may not overlook here is the European use of various language-specific terms for this concept, usually translated as "half a mega-road". Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina uses poluautocesta, Serbia (Bosnia and Herzegovina too) uses poluautoput/полуаутопут, Macedonia полуавтопат, Hungary félautópályá, Slovenia poluavtocesta, etc. The distinction is sometimes maintained as a difference of "full-profile highway/motorway" vs. "half-profile highway/motorway." However, AFAIK the term "two-lane freeway" doesn't have a translation in any of these languages. If two-lane freeway deserves its article, why shouldn't this? After all, this is not American Wikipedia, nor British Wikipedia, nor Wikipedia of Commonwealth. This is a general-purpose Wikipedia that contains articles about subjects worldwide, not only in English-speaking countries. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 16:24, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

(highway(expressway(freeway))) & (Highway(Motorway)) are important tiered distinctions across geographic boundaries for legal and engineering reasons in particular. That they display geographic variation, beyond the knowledge of any speaker, in vernacular use is notable but does not detract from their usefulness as geography-neutral descriptors for specific types of roads.

No. No misconception for me. You've made up your own definition for a two-lane freeway. Two-lane freewaysmay be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. These reasons do not exclude definite expansion or indicate any specific reason for construction. They're just examples. The US is crazy about building highways (lower case; it's not a proper noun which motorway may sometimes be), actual ones.

This is not a Standard American English push, or any other kind of 'push'; it is an attempt to make an encyclopedia more readable and useful. Don't create an article on mega-road too soon.

None of the resources listed above uses the term 'semi-highway'. None of them. They all prefer 'motorway', 'semi-motorway' (once) or 'half-motorway' (once). That includes the citations to the article. It's a neologism. The content should be kept, but in the articles Motorway as a subsection & Two-lane freeway, perhaps linking to each other. 'Two-lane freeway', 'highway', 'freeway' and 'expressway' (and to a limited extent 'motorway') are useful terms because they are geography neutral, to this you seem to agree. Please consider divided highway/dual carriageway.Synchronism (talk) 02:34, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

How come "two-lane freeway" is not considered a neologism? Also, the definition of "two-lane freeway" in its article is as much made up as my definition. AFAIK, term is just geek talk like "cloverstack." On the other hand, I'd support renaming to "half-motorway," as the government sources provided use that term. Half-motorway or semi-highway is not nearly the same as a full highway/motorway (I'm talking about an European highway, not an American one). It is an intermediate structure used during the construction of a highway. It's not meant for regular use. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 13:40, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

This is the lead sentence, where the topic is defined, A two-lane freeway or two-lane expressway is a freeway or expressway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. Do a google a search of the term and you'll find engineering papers using the term, among others. As you can see it is a broad term, a two-lane freeway may or may not be an intermediate structure. If there are problems with that article then go about fixing them. All public roads are highways, the only difference between European and American ones is where they are. However, there are many splendid and wonderous differences to note about the roads of the world, including the various highway systems, road class types, highway route numbering, standards and diferences in terminology. But this discussion is about this article's confusing title, and misplaced content about such differences.Synchronism (talk) 03:29, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I could have had written that lead sentence. It can in no way be treated as a reference unto itself. I've found exactly two engineering papaer results from 541 Google hits (that's a pretty low number, lower than the number of hits for semi-highway). The first paper talks about two-lane exits on a freeway and I can't open the second one. On the other hand, I've shown you more than enough papers regarding the semi-highway. Second, the name of the music group !!! is definitely confusing if it appears in the middle of a sentence, but that doesn't mean it's invalid and that it shouldn't be used. By the way, the name freeway sounds very counter-intuitive, since it assumes a free way, which a freeway does not necessarily have to be (e.g. Riverside Freeway). Admiral Norton ^(talk) 16:42, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

None of the resources provided use "semi-highway", that can't be denied, so stop acting like it's being used as an official term. Search JSTOR, the FHWA, the EU's portal Europanet, and so on for any of the terminology. In good faith, please change the article's name as an interim measure to 'semi-motorway', and please focus on the article at hand.Synchronism (talk) 17:48, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

This article is silly

I put effort, that I hadn't completed because yet, into improving this article. AdimiralNorton has ignored our conversation and acted unilaterally in deleting the improved content of this ... article. I repeat semi-highway is an idiolectic Neo-logism that seems to have been coined by AdmiralNorton himself, in that he is the only person who uses that word. This article is silly and won't make sense to a lot of readers because it violates conventional terminology without explanation. Here's what I changed it to:

A Semi-motorway or half-motorway is a grade-separated, controlled-access, undivided highway which is built on one carriageway of a future dual carriageway until the second one is built. The term half-profile motorway is also used in describing this incremental construction technique. While physically similar to two-lane freeways, these roads are strictly built as temporary structures as a part of a planned freeway.

These highways are often found on less frequented sections of national expressway systems, such as the German Autobahn, or because of the high cost of building on certain terrain, such as that of Switzerland. Alternatively or additionally, as is so in Croatia, where such highway projects are to be privately built and operated as a toll road, the fees paid by the users of the highway may be expected to finance its eventual completion.

Sections of half-profile motorway are frequently found in difficult terrain (where construction costs may be prohibitive), as a temporary and lower cost alternative to full construction. For example, instead of using two tunnel boring machines, one machine can excavate both without delaying the opening of the highway in either direction.

Examples of Semi-motorways

Most older motorways (Autoceste) in Croatia were originally built as semi-motorways. One notable example is the A6 motorway, whose first roadway was completed in 2004. It still has a 40 km (25 mi) section of undivided highway.[1] As of 2007, all new motorways in Croatia are constructed with two operational roadways thereby diminishing the prevalence of semi-motorways there.

Several sections of German Autobahn remain to be upgraded to full motorways. The lower 100kph speed limit for undivided roads applies in derestricted speed zones, and passing may be permitted in the oncoming traffic’s lane. Examples include A60 near the Belgian border and A62 between Landstuhl and Pirmasens in Rhineland-Palatinate. Contrastively, German federal highways (Bundesstraßen) are often built as permanent undivided highways with frequent grade separations.

Newer Hungarian motorways are also built first as semi-motorways and later completed. Examples are the M2 and M15 motorways. [2]The M2 also features an unusual three-lane configuration.[3]

Swiss Autobahns are also sometimes built short of their design for topographical and financial reasons. The trans-Alpine A13 includes many tunnels and sections of semi-motorway. These are similar to Swiss expressways (Autostrasse), which are typically permanent structures.

Many toll roads in Mexico, (Autopistas) are built in this way, often through difficult terrain.

You are violating consensus AdmiralNorton, and your stubbornness in the way of my good faith edits makes me upset and question putting effort into this article in the first place. If this article is only about what you say it is about then it doesn't belong on Wikipedia. Synchronism (talk) 18:06, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Please assume good faith; arbitration cases have broken out of neologism issues related to highways. --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:01, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

There was never a consensus for what you have done. You have simply presented some U.S. sources that don't document the usage of the term and tried to use them as evidence for a term of your invention that had about 50 Google hits, all totally unrelated, before you introduced it. The subject of this article is not any two-lane grade-separated road as you're trying to present it and claiming it is without any sources does not help create a better article. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 19:14, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

NO. I was rephrasing in way that reflected the resources and your original sentence in way that wouldn't be confusing. Specifically: A Semi-motorway or half-motorway is a grade-separated, controlled-access, undivided highway which is built on one carriageway of a future dual carriageway until the second one is built. You continue to mischaracterize my intentions and not get to the point. The current consensus is that the article should be called semi-motorway or be deleted. Synchronism (talk) 19:36, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

You might be missing the point of WP:CONSENSUS. Consensus is something about what all editors agree and not something about what one editor agrees. Also, the sentence you have written does not define a semi-highway. A semi-highway is a single roadway of a highway used only while the other one is in construction, not before the construction starts. I'm sorry since I didn't write that clearly causing this mess. This is not the same thing as a two-lane freeway, or I wouldn't have tried to create this in the first place. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 21:42, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Discussion

Hi guys, Syncronism left a note on my talk page; he asked that I come here to provide an opinion. First, I recommend consulting other editors. I added the WikiProject Highway tag to the talk page. Second, I left a note on that project's talk page requesting additional input. Third, I recommend officially requesting a Third Opinion from that group. Regards, Lazulilasher (talk) 23:59, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Note that arbitration case Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Highways 2 came out of a very similar issue and I already see some bad faith accusations - please don't go the way things went in the U.S. when this happened. --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:05, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

My 2008 Collins Road Atlas for Europe does list "Semi motorway" (in single quotes) as the caption for a highway sign - and I vaguely recall seeing one of the signs in Prague (Czech Republic) when I was there. Just my input on the issue... --Rschen7754 (T C) 00:10, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Third Opinion

Semi-highway is not a term that is generally understood (google mainly picks up this entry and a wikitionary entry). It is neither present in the Oxford English Dictionary nor in the Merriam Webster Dictionaries (the two that I checked). It is clearly a protologism and, according to WP:Avoid neologisms, "protologism" is a neologism to be avoided. I refer the concerned editors to the following text in that at article:

• Articles on neologisms frequently attempt to track the emergence and use of the term as observed in communities of interest or on the internet—without attributing these claims to reliable secondary sources. If the article is not verifiable (see Reliable sources for neologisms, below) then it constitutes analysis, synthesis and original research and consequently cannot be accepted by Wikipedia. This is true even though there may be many examples of the term in use.

In this case, there are few, if any, examples of the term in use. Of the three sources provided, the two in english don't mention the term anywhere and therefore cannot be called sources while the third is in Croatian. So, there are no secondary sources and the article is not verifiable. Without reliable secondary sources that document the common use of the term, the article must either be renamed (if another term or description that is backed by reliable sources is available), deleted, or merged with some other article. --Regents Park (sniff out my socks) 14:55, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

confusion

This seems to be a poor man's translation of a Croatian neologism poluautocesta, and then elaborated beyond belief :) I don't think it warrants an article because it basically describes a transient state of a highway being built, so it warrants at most a single mention or a subsection in highway and/or dual carriageway, and examples in the actual relevant articles such as Highways in Croatia, German Autobahns, Motorways in Hungary, Autobahns of Switzerland, etc, and even those should be split out further if individual highway articles exist which exhibit this state. Readers really don't care about an aggregate listing of this particular oddity, but they may care about such status of particular roads because it impacts their driving experience. --Joy [shallot] (talk) 11:08, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I just found another heap of confusion at Autostrasse/expressway. See: Talk:Expressway#Autostrasse. It's a real mess. --Joy [shallot] (talk) 14:37, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Fourth opinion

As happens often by people who don't speak English as their mother tongue, the word "highway" is often misunderstood in parts of Europe. Many people think "highway" exclusively means "motorway", "autobahn", "autocesta", "autoroute", "autopista", etc. However, a highway can be any type of public road, like a Route National, Carretera Nacional, Bundesstrasse, Droga Krajowa, etc. The title of this article is one of those examples, because this article is about a motorway, which has only one carriageway/roadway in operation.

The problem however, is that these kind of roads are not exactly the same as "super-two's" or "2-lane freeways". Those are often divided, and function like that permanently. Semi-motorways, however, are usually a temporary layout, until the second carriageway is constructed. This practice is often used in central, eastern and southeastern Europe.

So, I think this article should be cleaned up with a different title, for instance "semi-motorway", and the word "highway" should be replaced with "motorway" where appropriate. I think it shouldn't be merged with "two-lane freeway", because they're not the same thing. Chriszwolle (talk) 15:26, 25 October 2009 (UTC)