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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Ian Rose (talk) 11:07, 11 June 2014 (UTC) [1].[reply]

U.S. Route 31 in Michigan

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U.S. Route 31 in Michigan (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

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Nominator(s): Imzadi 1979 → 05:55, 14 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about the third-longest highway in the state of Michigan. Running for over 350 miles, US 31 parallels the Lake Michigan shoreline in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The highway's current designation dates back to 1926, and like other highways in the state, it was partially converted into a freeway. One segment of freeway built for US 31 has been sitting unused for over a decade now, waiting for the final piece to be built. That section was delayed for many years over a butterfly, but now it's a matter of funding the project. Imzadi 1979 → 05:55, 14 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

  • Image review:
  1. File:US 31.svg - PD-MUTCD
  2. File:US 31 (MI) map.svg - CC-BY-SA-3.0, has GIS data
  3. File:1-196 BLACK RIVER BRIDGE SOUTH HAVEN.jpg - PD-user
  4. File:US Route 31 Winston Road (Michigan).jpg - CC-BY-SA-2.0
  5. File:US 31, Manistee, Michigan.jpg - CC-BY-SA-2.0
  6. File:Grandview Parkway Traverse City.jpg - CC-BY-SA-3.0
  7. File:US31 Sign Looking North Bay View Michigan.jpg - CC-BY-SA-3.0
  8. File:Alanson Michigan Downtown 2 US31.jpg - CC-BY-SA-3.0
  9. File:Michigan's Indian trails.png - PD US not renewed, published in 1959
  10. File:US 31 in 1936.png - PD US no notice, published in 1936
  11. File:US Route 31 Oceana Drive (Michigan).jpg - CC-BY-SA-2.0
  12. File:Mitchell's Satyr butterfly.jpg - CC-BY-3.0, OTRS permission confirmed
  13. File:Lake Michigan Circle Tour.svg - CC-Zero, OTRS permission confirmed
  14. File:Charlevoix II.JPG - CC-BY-3.0
  15. Captions are fine.

Support (having recently driven through Michigan!)

  • What are "freeway standards"? Any chance for a note, link, or explanation in the route description section?
  • "The entire length of the highway is listed on the National Highway System,[5] a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility." - it couldn't hurt to add that this is the United States National Highway System. Not everyone knows where Michigan is, and it could be helpful to remind which country you refer to.
  • "A bit further north" - weasel words
  • "There US 31 intersects" - add comma
  • "where US 31 turns northward to bypass the west side of town on its own" - this could be clearer
  • "US 31 crosses into Antrim County as it runes" - I'm guessing you mean "runs"?
  • "US 31 terminated at the souther approach to the Mackinac Bridge" - first, you mean "southern"? And second, so US 31 was removed from the UP before I-75 was created?
  • "at a cost of $97 million (equivalent to $126 million in 2012[72])." - why 2012?

All in all, it looks pretty good! ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 15:38, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the replies, I'm happy! ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 22:38, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Replies, in order:
  • Adding a link.
  • Actually, the name is just "National Highway System", no "United States" added. In dealing with other US Highways' articles I've nominated at FAC, I had a FAC coordinator copy edit the prose because there were too many references to "US" or "United States" already in the lead, even though I had been clarifying that Michigan is in the US. In this case, that paragraph could withstand an extra reference, so I swapped "US's" for "country's" in that one sentence.
  • I'm not sure how this is weasily, other than omitting a more specific distance.
  • Added.
  • Revised.
  • Yup, fixed.
  • Yes, and yes, by about 20 years.
  • The templates that generate the inflation-adjusted numbers use datasets from the appropriate government agency. In terms of this calculation, it's based on the national gross domestic product per capita, and that dataset for the US is only updated as of 2012 because there is a lag by the agency crunching the numbers. The good news is that each year when updated, year given will also update.
Imzadi 1979 → 22:17, 23 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Comments A very well-written and sourced article. I have a few small suggestions to help with the prose:

  • I'm not sure that "a bit" is weasely, but the phrase appears extraneous and somewhat informal. I suggest dropping it, or rewording by saying "Slightly".
  • "At that interchange" - Swap "that" for "this" (or "the")
  • "Continues along" is extra verbiage; I suggest dropping it.
  • "Just a few miles father east" - the "Just" isn't necessary
  • "South of the structure it is Bridge Street, and north of the bridge this is Michigan Avenue" - I suggest using parallel construction and replacing "this" with "it"; using "this" is ambiguous.
  • "The United States Numbered Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926,[1] and US 31 was designated in Michigan..." - The passive voice leaves me wondering who approved the system and designated US 31 in Michigan.
  • "Early the next year, the route of US 2 was realigned to run into St. Ignace; after the change US 2 and US 31 initially ran concurrently" I suggest putting a comma after "change" and dropping the word "initially"; the next sentence describes how US 31 was then realigned again, so that aspect is covered, but I was confused at first by this sentence's structure suggesting that there was an "initial" state after a "change".
  • "East of Benton Harbor, the St. Joseph Valley Parkway extension was under study due to environmental, economic, and historical site issues." - When, and by whom? Also, concerning tense, I notice that this sentence uses past tense ("was under study" for environmental issues), but the next sentence uses present tense to describe an environmental issue ("relates"). To clarify, I suggest tacking the phrase "that was studied" before "relates" in this sentence, which also ties back into the studying mentioned in the prior sentence.
  • ", that has its habitat in the area of the proposed freeway." Switch "that" for "which".
  • "As of 2014, in order to cross the Grand River in Ottawa County" - "in order" unnecessary
  • "As of January 4, 2013, MDOT had completed work for this new highway, on a bridge over North Cedar Drive," -- suggest swapping "on" for "including"; the "on" made me think that a new list of construction projects was being started (i.e., MDOt had completed work on the highway, and a separate bridge, and separate ramps, etc.)

These are mostly small issues; again, great work on this article. –Prototime (talk · contribs) 05:24, 24 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Prototime: I have made the suggested changes. Thanks for the quick review, and please let me know if anything more needs to be polished. Imzadi 1979 → 06:21, 24 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Looks great! The only minor thing I'd mention is that the opening sentence about the St. Joseph Valley Parkway extension could still use a mention of when the studies were taking place. –Prototime (talk · contribs) 03:52, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Prototime: added the 1967 start to the studies. Imzadi 1979 → 04:28, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Great! –Prototime (talk · contribs) 04:33, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Support - All of my concerns have been addressed. The prose is great, the article is well-sourced, the structure is well-suited to the topic, and the article provides a comprehensive discussion of the subject. A job very well done, Imzadi1979! Keep up the great work! –Prototime (talk · contribs) 04:33, 25 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Notes -- source review for formatting/reliability? Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 09:03, 26 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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