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Wikipedia:WikiProject Highways/Assessment/A-Class Review/Michigan State Trunkline Highway System

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Michigan State Trunkline Highway System

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The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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Michigan State Trunkline Highway System (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) review

Suggestion: Promote to A-Class
Nominator's comments: 2013 will be the centennial of the creation of Michigan's highway system. We have no formula for system articles yet, and an attempt to have this peer-reviewed didn't solicit any comments. The previous ACR closed without much review either. The goal is to get this sent to FAC early in 2013 so that the article could be the TFA for May 13, 2012.
Nominated by: Imzadi 1979 → 10:37, 12 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
First comment occurred: 10:42, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Review by Rschen7754

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I plan to make some general comments about the content and structure, but don't plan to actually review until other editors have made comments on the structure. --Rschen7754 10:42, 12 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comment by TCN7JM

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I may or may not review prose later, but I do have one comment on the lead.

  • "These unsigned trunklines are mostly segments of former highway designations that have been moved or had the designations decommissioned."

Does the word "designation" need to be used twice in that sentence? I think it would look better as "These unsigned trunklines are mostly segments of former highway designations that have been moved or decommissioned." TCN7JM 16:13, 16 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Dough4872

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Review by Dough4872

Most of these comments were taken from the review I did last year.

  1. The lead could be expanded. Maybe mention some information about the non-MDOT roads in the state as well as a brief history of the system.
  2. Maybe link decommissioned to Decommissioned highway instead of wiktionary.
  3. Instead of using ""Route 28" or "Highway 28", but as M-28", I would use the more generic ""Route nn" or "Highway nn", but as M-nn".
  4. Is it necessary to describe the other uses of the M-x convention?
  5. "two-lane highways in far-flung rural areas", perhaps use something better than far-flung like remote.
  6. You should include the mileage of the system in the State Trunkline Highways section.
  7. Citation needed for "The highways names for special routes are formed by prefacing the parent highway with the type of special route. The full names are commonly abbreviated like other highways: Business Loop Interstate 196 (BL I-196), Business M-60 (BUS M-60) or Connector M-44 (CONN M-44)."
  8. Perhaps provide more details onto how the CDH's are numbered.
  9. Citation needed for "Other county systems are designated and maintained in each of the 83 counties and practices vary between using the pentagon marker to older square markers in black and white."
  10. "roads districts", is that what it is called and not road districts or roads district?
  11. Is the price of a barrel of flour really relevant to this article?
  12. "This supervision was difficult since in one case, one county covered all of the Upper Peninsula and several of today's counties in the Lower Peninsula", perhaps mention the name of this county.
  13. Perhaps move "The first centerline was invented in 1911 in Wayne County by Edward N. Hines." to before "The first centerline was painted on a state highway in 1917 along the Marquette-Negaunee Road which was designated Trunkline 15, now Marquette County Road 492".
  14. The article seems to be missing more recent history of the highway system, is there some that can be added?
  15. Is it possible to add more road pictures to the article to illustrate examples of highways in Michigan? Dough4872 00:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Do you have any comment on the overall structure of the article? --Rschen7754 16:39, 3 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    The usage section could possibly be incorporated into the State Trunkline Highways section since it describes specifically the state highways. Dough4872 23:23, 3 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Since the article has been significantly revised since my first review, here is an updated review:

  1. The lead could be expanded. Maybe mention some information about the non-MDOT roads in the state as well as a brief history of the system.
  2. Maybe link decommissioned to Decommissioned highway instead of wiktionary.
  3. Instead of using ""Route 28" or "Highway 28", but as M-28", I would use the more generic ""Route nn" or "Highway nn", but as M-nn".
  4. "two-lane highways in far-flung rural areas", perhaps use something better than far-flung like remote
  5. You should include the mileage of the system in the State Trunkline Highways section.
  6. "The State Trunkline Highway System comprises four types of highways: Michigan's portions of the Interstate Highway System and United States Numbered Highway System (U.S. Highways), and the regular state trunklines" the sentence only mentions three.
  7. Citation needed for "The highways names for special routes are formed by prefacing the parent highway with the type of special route. The full names are commonly abbreviated like other highways: Business Loop Interstate 196 (BL I-196), Business M-60 (BUS M-60) or Connector M-44 (CONN M-44)."
  8. Perhaps provide more details onto how the CDH's are numbered.
  9. Citation needed for "Other county systems are designated and maintained in each of the 83 counties and practices vary between using the pentagon marker to older square markers in black and white."
  10. "roads districts", is this supposed to be road districts or the plural of roads district?
  11. "This supervision was difficult since in one case, one county covered all of the Upper Peninsula and several of today's counties in the Lower Peninsula", perhaps mention the name of this county.
  12. The article inconsistently uses roads district and road district. Which one is it?
  13. Perhaps move "The first centerline was invented in 1911 in Wayne County by Edward N. Hines." to before "The first centerline was painted on a state highway in 1917 along the Marquette-Negaunee Road which was designated Trunkline 15, now Marquette County Road 492".
  14. Perhaps you can add images of all the styles of state highway markers that Michigan used, preferably at the appropriate time peroid in the history.
  15. I would rearrange some details in the history. The designation of trunklines in 1911, the signage in 1919, and the U.S. highway system should be mentioned in one paragraph. Also, try to keep the events in chronological order where possible.
  16. What was the first stretch of Interstate to open in Michigan (not necessarily the first highway fully complete)? This should be clarified.
  17. What was the last gravel state highway to be paved?
  18. The sentence "Future highway projects under planning or construction will build a bypass of Constantine for US 131, highway would maintain access to local roads via at-grade intersections, and the department would maintain jurisdiction of the old route through town" sounds awkward. Dough4872 01:08, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
1 will do in a few hours.
2–13 are done in various ways.
14 let me see what I can do, but all of the various markers are in the infobox at the top of each list article, which is why I didn't put all of the historical marker designs in this article. I might get a 1922 photo of a marker uploaded though and inserted here.
15 some of the paragraphs seem out of order because they're grouped a little more by topics, and those topics overlap chronologically. We might look at splitting some stuff up a little more though, so this might become more apparent.
16 added, sorta; freeway sections were opened before they were signed as Interstates, so I noted the first section to be re-signed as an Interstate.
17 added.
18 fixed. Imzadi 1979 → 04:13, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
As promised, the lead has been expanded significantly, and some of the stuff there found a different home in the body of the article. Imzadi 1979 → 14:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Viridiscalculus

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The History section is very unbalanced and suffers from the opposite of recentism. There are nine paragraphs about the road system in the 19th century and earlier. This is great except for the fact that there is more information there than in the section about the 20th century, when the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System was actually created and constructed. There are only two paragraphs devoted to everything that happened in the last 85 years, and many major areas of discussion have been only glancingly mentioned or not at all. The prose also has a high density of superlatives. Although superlatives are great to have and are juicy morsels for readers, they lose their punch if they comprise most of the prose. The superlatives need to be tied together into a narrative.

Here are some themes you should explore to expand the article's 20th century history, roughly in chronological order, based on my impressions of how most state highway systems developed. No two state highway systems developed the same exact way, but there were enough analogous actions and motives to be able to put together similar narratives. You have addressed many of these already, but there may be facets you have yet to explore.

  • The Good Roads Movement causes state resources to be devoted to modern road construction. At first, the state offers expert advice to the counties and conducts statewide studies of the highway system. The state sweetens the pot by offering funding or rewards to the counties for building modern roads paved in macadam or concrete.
  • However, these state-aided roads constructed by the county are poorly constructed, seem to be placed at random, or both. Therefore, the state steps in and starts constructing the roads itself and laying out a system, with a goal of connecting all county seats and major cities and towns in the state. Little regard was paid to coordinating with neighboring states at first.
  • Many of the most important existing roads in the state are turnpikes, plank roads, and the like in varying levels of quality. The state acquired the roads or the road right of way by one or more methods and used the routes for this new statewide system.
  • Early roads are narrow by modern standards, often being 14 feet or less in width. The state developed or parroted methods of widening roads, particularly along heavily traveled thoroughfares.
  • World War I affected the state highway system. Heavy military traffic and truck traffic related to the war effort damaged the existing roads and created lessons in building roads that can stand up to the heavy traffic. Many roads were improved or proposed to be improved due to their wartime importance.
  • Especially in northern states, not expending effort to clear snow from the roads in the winter led to the roads being closed to many automobiles for months. When spring comes, the roads are found to have been heavily damaged. Thus, snow removal became an important task.
  • The rural versus urban conflict came into play with state road systems. Rural areas often were favored in construction of new roads by the state. Conversely, the cities often resisted being pulled into the state road system.
  • There were conflicts between the railroads and the state highway system on what to do when the two crossed. Construction of grade separations became important to improve traffic flow and eliminate the danger of fatal collisions. Many state highways in urban areas doubled as streetcar routes, with all of the entailing conflict until the streetcar routes were discontinued and the road was then only used for automobiles.
  • Federal aid for lateral and post roads affected which roads were improved and spurred such construction.
  • The U.S. Highway system is introduced, affecting which corridors are deemed most important and resulting in route number changes.
  • Early on, roads were improved in place. New pavement was laid on trails used for decades. As road planning, engineering, and construction improved, dangerous curves were bypassed and dangerous and deficient bridges were replaced with modern ones. In addition, roads were built on an entirely new path using the latest methods. New roads were constructed through rural areas to better connect two locations. New roads were constructed to bypass towns and separate local and long-distance traffic. Passage through major geographic barriers like mountains was improved by building on a new alignment.
  • In many cases, existing roads could no longer be expanded in urban and suburban areas. To avoid this problem, new highways were built with two carriageways or designed in such a way to allow a second carriageway to be built when necessary without needing to acquire more land. Twin carriageways also mostly solved the problem of head-on collisions.
  • The concept of access of control is introduced to avoid the problem of rampant development directly along highways.
  • Grade separation of two or more highways is introduced with interchanges to connect the highways.
  • The first freeways are built, mostly in urban areas.
  • World War II caused a major shift in priorities. Most highways languished in favor of improving and constructing new highways to serve important military routes and access military bases and crucial war manufacturing centers.
  • Following the war, there is a burst of highway-building activity in all areas of the state to compensate for the concentrated priorities of the war effect and explosive population growth, particularly as people flee the cities for the suburbs.
  • Maintenance deferred during the war is corrected. Minor highways are gradually improved to modern standards over the decades.
  • Freeways and other controlled-access highways are built to bypass towns and cities. Highways are widened and dualized.
  • Freeways and other controlled-access highways are planned on long-distance routes through rural areas to connect cities and relieve the older highways. Many of the freeways are planned as toll roads due to the 50:50 federal aid split not being good enough financially...
  • ...until the state scraps toll road plans with the introduction of the Interstate Highway System and its 90:10 federal aid split.
  • The Interstates take many, many years to be built. Once Interstate routes are completed, the old state highways along a corridor are bypassed, and some are removed from the state highway system or even the U.S. Highway system.
  • Freeway revolts redirect, delay, inhibit, or kill freeway plans. The rise of environmentalism does the same.
  • New freeways are built that take advantage of the latest planning, engineering, and construction methods. Old freeways need to be rebuilt to modern standards as much as possible to eliminate sharp curves, narrow roadways, and poorly designed bridges and interchanges.

I am probably missing many helpful themes, especially themes closer to the present day, but these ones should be helpful in adding content. Feel free to add more themes to help this article achieve the proper breadth and depth.  VC  01:52, 13 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What is the status? It's been almost a month. --Rschen7754 08:53, 9 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The article has not been edited since November. If the Pennsylvania Turnpike ACR got archived for lack of activity, this one should be, too.  VC  13:33, 11 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That article did not get archived for inactivity; concerns were that the article was being entirely rewritten and that necessitated a restart of the review. --Rschen7754 18:10, 11 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
You are right, the situations are different.  VC  02:42, 12 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Imzadi1979: can you please post onwiki as to the status of this review? Thank you. --Rschen7754 23:57, 8 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A large expansion of the history has been added, which should address many of these. There are a few minor points to add in (freeway revolts in Detroit from the I-96 article, possibility of adding some the specifics of of the controversy over M-6 and I-696, etc.) but it would be appreciated if VC would strike the points he feels the article covers rather than leaving a laundry list of themes to cover, which imply the article doesn't cover some 24 bullet points. Imzadi 1979 → 01:48, 31 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I struck the themes that appear to have been addressed in the History section.  VC  16:58, 3 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Image review and spotcheck by Fredddie

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Image review and spotcheck

I intend to do this. –Fredddie™ 00:47, 14 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Images look good. –Fredddie™ 02:03, 14 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I confirm that I have verified the OTRS information. --Rschen7754 02:05, 14 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I suppose I should own up to the spotcheck part. If I have highlighted a reference with {{!xt}}, it did not check out; otherwise, if it is listed here it does check out. I spotchecked 20 references (25%). –Fredddie™ 00:31, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

  • Michigan Legislature (1915). "Chapter 91: State Reward Trunk Line Highways". In Shields, Edmund C.; Black, Cyrenius P.; Broomfield, Archibald. The Compiled Laws of the State of Michigan, Volume I. Lansing, MI: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford. pp. 1868–72. OCLC 44724558. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  • Staff (June 18, 2010). "Road & Highway Facts". Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  • "Route Renumbering: New Green Markers Will Replaces Old Shields" (PDF). California Highways and Public Works 43 (1–2): 11–14. March–April 1964. ISSN 0008-1159. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  • Bureau of Public Roads (November 11, 1926) (PDF). United States System of Highways (Map). Retrieved May 10, 2008. Since it's just a map, it does not mention any Michigan trunklines changing numbers.
  • Hamilton, William E. (February 2007). "Act 51 Primer: A Guide to 1951 Public Act 51 and Michigan Transportation Funding" (PDF). Michigan House Fiscal Agency. p. 8. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  • Staff (December 2009). "Chapter 2D: Guide Signs—Conventional Roads" (PDF). Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2009 ed.). Federal Highway Administration. pp. 143–146. ISBN 978-1-59804-535-2.
  • Staff (May 1, 2008). "Appendix C: State Trunkline Connector Routes" (PDF). Michigan Geographic Framework. Michigan Department of Information Technology. Retrieved October 15, 2008. Note: However, the connectors are listed as M-44 Conn, not CONN M-44...
  • Staff (February 5, 2010). "Drive Home Our Heritage". Heritage Routes. Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  • Ellison, Garret (July 4, 2011). "Ionia County Boasts First Roadside Picnic Table, One of West Michigan's Hidden Gems". The Grand Rapids Press. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  • Staff (March 1, 2010) (PDF). Section 394 Report: Analysis of Transportation Funding Distribution Formula (Report). Michigan Department of Transportation. p. 12. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  • "Michigan To Push Its North–South Turnpike: Toll Road To Link Centers of Industrial Areas". Youngstown Vindicator. February 21, 1955. p. 2. OCLC 5424159. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  • Bagley, Les (October 25, 2007). "Autos Across Mackinac: Michigan Decides Against Building Turnpikes". The St. Ignace News. OCLC 36250796. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  • Bagley, Les (January 17, 2008). "Autos Across Mackinac: Bridge Construction Continues; Tourism Down". The St. Ignace News. OCLC 36250796. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  • "The Cracks are Showing". The Economist. June 26, 2008. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved October 23, 2008.(subscription required)
  • "World's Costliest Wonder Bridge Opens Today, Links Michigan's Two Peninsulas: Williams Leads First Caravan Across Bridge". Ludington Daily News. Associated Press. November 1, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  • "World's Heaviest Lift Bridge Dedication Is Set at Houghton". Ironwood Daily Globe. June 7, 1960. p. 3. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  • "Gasoline Tax Wins Senate Approval". Ludington Daily News. United Press International. December 13, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  • Schmidt, William E. (December 15, 1989). "Pleasant Ridge Journal: The Freeway It Took A Generation to Build". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  • Truscott, John (August 31, 1998). "Governor Engler Opens US 27 Freeway" (Press release). Michigan Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  • Riestma, Jeff (May 21, 2008). "Michigan Department of Transportation Updates US 131 Plans". Kalamazoo Gazette. OCLC 9940379. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011.

Comments from Evad37

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Resolved issues

Usage section:

  • "The M in the state highway numbers". M should be in quote marks or italics
  • "reassurance marker shields posted along the side of the highway." should refer to highways (plural), not a single highway
  • " "Route nn" or "Highway nn", but as "M-nn" " – should explain that nn means a 1 to 3 digit number. Also, why is nn in italics here but not elsewhere?
  • " "M-nn" trunklines are designated along eight-lane freeways in urban areas, four-lane rural freeways and expressways, principal arterial highways, two-lane highways in remote rural areas, and even M-185,[10] a non-motorized road restricted to bicycles, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians on Mackinac Island.[11]" – Consider splitting the M-185 into a second sentence, or otherwise rewording. Seems clumsy to have " "M-nn" trunklines are designated along ...[list]... , and even M-185"
  • "There were also some examples of "M-numbered" state highways which once existed..." – were seems to indicate that all the following M highways no longer exist. It would be better to use are.

History section:

  • Phrases that should be wikilinked: "War of 1812", "corduroy roads", "plank road"
  • "...and even Henry Ford was cool to the idea..." – Consider rephrasing ("cool" is more of a positive term in modern/colloquial usage).
  • " designated Trunkline 15, now County Road 492 in Marquette County.[e])" – ")" is mismatched/unused
  • "the tower elevated a police officer above the center of the intersection to direct traffic before the structure was replaced in October 1920 with the world's first four-way traffic light.[52]" – too many words in one sentence. Needs punctuation, or break it up into two sentences.
  • "while the coming of the U.S. Highway System" – I think "introduction" or "implementation" sounds better than "coming"
  • "the Michigan State Highway Department" – needs to be followed by (MSHD), to explain the later use of MSHD
  • "The Michigan Turnpike Authority (MTA), an agency which was created in 1951" – "which was" is redundant
  • "The original termini for the turnpike were Bridgeport and Rockwood" wikilink to Bridgeport, Michigan and Rockwood, Michigan
  • "The first Interstate Highway in the state was signposted in October 1959 when I-75 signs were first installed along the Detroit–Toledo Expressway, replacing US 24A signage in the Monroe area,[64] after the state waited for final approval of the numbering system to be used in the state.[65]" – Another long sentence that might work better as two. Also, "after the state received final approval" makes more sense than "waited for"
  • "An original goal of Michigan's freeways..." – were there other goals?
  • "Following the start of these highway improvements, the MSHD adopted a policy to allow traffic to use the state's trunklines every day of the year" – What was the situation/s that prevented traffic using the state's trunklines every day?
  • "Bypasses of Cadillac and Manton..." wikilink to the articles

Other:

  • Would it possible to modify the infobox map, or include another map where Interstate highways, US highways, and state highways are colour coded (with an appropriate legend for the colours included)?

This is my first contribution to ACR, I hope it is useful to you - Evad37 (talk) 08:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. All of your comments should be addressed, so let me know if you see anything else. I'm not at my regular computer at this moment, so once I am, I'll work on updating the colors of the US Highways on the map. The Interstates are already in blue, business routes in green. It shouldn't be hard to toss a color key in the infobox caption once done. Imzadi 1979 → 08:50, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Some more comments:

  • The Highway names section of the infobox should match the form used in the Usage sections
  • The image of the Welcome sign along US 8 cause text to be sandwiched between it and the infobox on small screens (on whatever resolution iPhones use, plus on a desktop with a width of 1024px)
  • The lead does not meet all the requirements of MOS:LEAD, specifically "The lead section should briefly summarize the most important points covered in an article in such a way that it can stand on its own as a concise version of the article" – the most important aspects of the History sections should be summarised in the lead, perhaps as a second paragraph

- Evad37 (talk) 10:42, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Quick replies, but the comments on the lead were noted by Dough above, and I promised him in my reply that I'd get to it once I was off work this morning. So that's in progress... Imzadi 1979 → 11:34, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The lead has been expanded, which also takes care of the sandwiched text quite nicely. Imzadi 1979 → 14:20, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

One more thing, the first paragraph of the lead ends in an incomplete thought: "... by MDOT; some are[end of paragraph]" - Evad37 (talk) 16:59, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Good catch. Got it. Imzadi 1979 → 23:04, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

More comments by TCN7JM

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Despite striking my comment about reviewing this, I will review this article later today. TCN7JM 12:29, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies, but I'm not feeling that well today. I'll get to this tomorrow. TCN7JM 01:11, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Lead
  1. So, were the road districts created along with the creation of the Michigan Territory? If not, the second sentence in the second paragraph doesn't make sense.
Usage
  1. "with a block letter Mat the top." - Missing a space in there.
  2. The second-to-last sentence of the second paragraph irks me a bit. The way it's written makes me think that trunklines are designated along eight-lane freeways in urban areas and urban areas only, and that they're only designated along two-lane highways in remote rural areas. Is there some way you could rewrite this?
Numerical duplicatioin
  1. Consistency error: The third paragraph has a usage of "US Highways", while the rest of the article (as far as I've seen) uses "U.S. Highways".
County roads and other systems
  1. In the first sentence, it looks and sounds weird with "in the state" being used twice in the sentence.
19th century
  1. You're missing a space before the last sentence of the second paragraph.
  2. A bit of a nitpick, but Chicago, Illinois redirects to Chicago, so you can fix the piped link.
  3. First sentence of the sixth paragraph is missing a period.
  4. The Grand River Avenue picture needs a comma after "US 16".
Mid-20th century and later
  1. You say the Portage Lake Bridge opened in 1959, then in the same sentence you say the International Bridge opened "five years later" in 1962.
  2. "During the 1960 or 1970s" - I'm sure you see the error here.

That's it. Have fun! TCN7JM 15:44, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

And all are fixed. Thanks for the review! Imzadi 1979 → 15:57, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Great! And I like how you split the Mid-20th subsection. I support. TCN7JM 15:58, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
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