Wikipedia:WikiProject Illinois State Routes

[edit] Article name

For now, "Illinois Route x" where 'x' is the number of the state route.

[edit] (Header)

The first element of the page should be the project's infobox. For numbered state routes, it is Template:Infobox Illinois state route. If the highway does not have a number, use Template:Infobox road for now. If the highway has a number, but is more commonly referred to by its name, use Template:Infobox road. See Kennedy Expressway for a good example of the last one.

The introductory paragraph of the article is supposed to briefly cover the important elements, but not repeat verbatim what is in the associated infobox. Mileage, termini and and brief description of the territory the road covers should be sufficient.

[edit] Route description

This section should exist for all highways. It should consist of the basic reasons (besides the fact that the state route may just have been legislated into existence) that the route is there. Describe the character of the road through the towns; if it is scenic, mention that. This paragraph should be written from the present point of view, so leave off any historical precedent until the next section.

[edit] History

The history of this route number should be discussed here. Sometimes routes have long and fanciful histories, while others do not. This section, regardless of how short the history of the state route may be, should be included in every state route page. Important events that occurred on the route should also be in this section. If you can trace the route to an originate State Bond Issue (SBI), feel free to do so.

[edit] Future

This section is optional. If there are plans to substantially widen, or lengthen, (or shorten) the highway in question 1.) in the 5 year plan of the Illinois Department of Transportation 2.) as a result of a study conducted by IDOT or another organization of similar notability or 3.) within the scope of the Chicago Area Transportation Study 30-year plan, mention those plans here, along with reasons why the highway is being widened, lengthened, or shortened. Rumor, hearsay and speculation do NOT belong in this section! Illinois Route 336 is a good example of an article needing a Future section.

[edit] Major junctions

This section is optional, but useful. Creation of a table that looks like the following is encouraged:

This has been tried in list form. It doesn't work. In general, the only content of this section should be the table as above. Avoid using tables in any section aside from "Major junctions" and "Interchanges".

[edit] Exit list

This section is optional, but very useful... and only for state highways that are at least partially highways (example: Illinois Route 6). Creation of a table follows the exit list guide is preferred; see that article for details.

A full example is currently available on Elgin-O'Hare Expressway. Some highways, especially state highways, don't have mile markers. That column may be omitted if the author doesn't want to go through the long (hours of research) process of finding out the mile number. Approximations are better than nothing, and can be indicated with a tilde (~).

Avoid using tables in any section aside from "Major junctions" and "Interchanges".

[edit] Notes

Notes sections in this case are discouraged, as they can be worked into the route description. However, if there really is only a sentence's worth of content associated with a given route, it should be placed in a bulleted list under the Notes section.

[edit] References

This section is required. Definitely do use references in the article. See Wikipedia:Footnotes. Use of Template:Cite web inside ref tags is recommended.

[edit] External links

This section is optional, but not recommended for citation purposes, since we don't really know what the external link was used for if there's just a list of links. If, on the other hand, the page contains copyrighted information (such as copyrighted pictures) that could add to the informative value of the article, then an external links section is acceptable.

[edit] Categories

There are a few guidelines for which categories to put these articles in, but overcategorization is a definite concern. Place Illinois State Route articles in the following categories:

• Category:State highways in Illinois. Use the pipe trick:

• 1di and 2di highways: [[Category:State highways in Illinois|0xx]] where xx is the number of the route
• 3di highways: [[Category:State highways in Illinois|y|xx]] where yxx is the number of the route

• The category for each county the route runs through, i.e. Category:Tazewell County, Illinois.
• Avoid categories for each individual city on the route. Categories for major cities are acceptable.

Categories for notable highways but not Illinois state routes

Use these for things like Lincoln Highway or Kingery Expressway, not Illinois Route 1.

• Category:Interstate Highways in Illinois
• Category:U.S. Highways in Illinois