Wikipedia:Naming conventions (U.S. state and territory highways)

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This Naming Convention is intended to standardize the naming formats used in articles pertaining to highways in the United States.

The highway types covered by this convention have two naming formats – official name and article title – which can be the same. The official name is the naming format typically used by the state department of transportation (DOT) or the general public, and is what should be used to refer the highway in article prose. The article title is a disambiguated form obviously used for article naming, and should only be used in article prose if a sentence would otherwise be ambiguous.

If you disagree with the conventions described here, or wish to add to them, please discuss it on the talk page. These conventions were established through previous debates, and any proposals to change such conventions may be contentious (see also the Arbitration Committee Highways case).

U.S. state highways[edit]

The following are systems of state highways maintained and numbered by each U.S. state, territory or district. The naming conventions listed below may be supplemented by guidelines of individual state highway task forces under the U.S. Roads WikiProject (please see WP:USRD/SUB for a list). The standardized abbreviations in use in the {{jct}} template are also listed below for convenience.

State/Territory/District Official name Article title Abbreviation
Alabama State Route X Alabama State Route X SR X
Alaska Alaska Route X Alaska Route X[a] AK-X
American Samoa American Samoa Highway X American Samoa Highway X ASXXXX[b]
Arizona State Route X Arizona State Route X SR X
Arkansas Highway X Arkansas Highway X AR X
California State Route X California State Route X SR X
Colorado State Highway X Colorado State Highway X SH X
Connecticut Route X Connecticut Route X Route X
Delaware Delaware Route X Delaware Route X DE X
District of Columbia District of Columbia Route X District of Columbia Route X DC X
Florida State Road X Florida State Road X SR X
Georgia State Route X Georgia State Route X SR X
Guam Guam Highway X Guam Highway X GH-X
Hawaii Route X Hawaii Route X Route X
Idaho State Highway X Idaho State Highway X SH-X
Illinois Illinois Route X Illinois Route X IL X
Indiana State Road X Indiana State Road X SR X
Iowa Iowa Highway X Iowa Highway X Iowa X
Kansas K-X K-X (Kansas highway) K-X
Kentucky Kentucky Route X Kentucky Route X KY X
Louisiana Louisiana Highway X Louisiana Highway X LA X
Maine State Route X Maine State Route X SR X
Maryland Maryland Route X Maryland Route X MD X
Massachusetts Route X Massachusetts Route X Route X
Michigan M-X M-X (Michigan highway) M-X
Minnesota Minnesota State Highway X Minnesota State Highway X MN X
Mississippi Mississippi Highway X Mississippi Highway X MS X
Missouri Route X Missouri Route X Route X
Montana Montana Highway X Montana Highway X MT X
Montana (secondary) Secondary Highway X Montana Secondary Highway X S-X
Nebraska Nebraska Highway X Nebraska Highway X N-X
Nevada State Route X Nevada State Route X SR X
New Hampshire New Hampshire Route X New Hampshire Route X NH X
New Jersey Route X New Jersey Route X Route X
New Mexico State Road X New Mexico State Road X NM X
New York New York State Route X New York State Route X NY X
North Carolina NC X North Carolina Highway X NC X
North Dakota North Dakota Highway X North Dakota Highway X ND X
Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands Highway X Northern Mariana Islands Highway X Hwy. X
Ohio State Route X Ohio State Route X SR X
Oklahoma State Highway X Oklahoma State Highway X SH-X
Oregon Oregon Route X Oregon Route X OR X
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Route X Pennsylvania Route X PA X
Pennsylvania Quadrant State Route XXXX State Route XXXX (Y County, Pennsylvania) SR X
Puerto Rico PR-X Puerto Rico Highway X PR-X
Rhode Island Route X Rhode Island Route X Route X
South Carolina South Carolina Highway X South Carolina Highway X SC X
South Dakota Highway X South Dakota Highway X SD X
Tennessee State Route X Tennessee State Route X SR X
Texas State Highway X Texas State Highway X SH X
U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Highway X U.S. Virgin Islands Highway X Hwy X
Utah State Route X Utah State Route X SR-X
Vermont Vermont Route X Vermont Route X VT X
Virginia State Route X Virginia State Route X SR X
Washington State Route X Washington State Route X SR X
West Virginia West Virginia Route X West Virginia Route X WV X
Wisconsin State Trunk Highway X Wisconsin Highway X WIS X
Wyoming Wyoming Highway X Wyoming Highway X WYO X

The official name is to be used when writing about the road in an article; only use the article title in another article if the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous. Never use a colloquial title other than those listed above, unless you are adding a mention of its existence to the article.

Official nicknames for highways (i.e. Golden State Freeway, Tri-State Tollway, New Jersey Turnpike) may be used if the DOT uses it. However, colloquial names such as The Loneliest Road in America should not be used.

Interstate and U.S. Routes[edit]

The following are systems of national highways maintained by the states which have their numbering assignments made by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

System Subtype Official name Article title Abbreviation
Interstate Highway System Primary Interstate X Interstate X
Interstate X (State)[c] 		I-X[d][e]
Primary, state-detail Interstate X Interstate X in State
Auxiliary Interstate X Interstate X
Interstate X (State)[c]
Business loops Interstate X Business Loop,
Business Loop Interstate X 		Interstate X Business (City, State) I-X BL
BL I-X
I-X Bus.
Business spurs Interstate X Business Spur
Business Spur Interstate X 		I-X BS
BS I-X
I-X Bus.
United States Numbered Highway System Primary U.S. Route X[f] U.S. Route X US X
US-X[g]
Primary, state-detail U.S. Route X U.S. Route X in State
Alternate routes U.S. Route X Alternate,
Alternate U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Alternate (Location) US X Alt.
Alt. US X
US XA[g]
Business routes U.S. Route X Business,
Business U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Business (Location) US X Bus.
Bus. US X
US XB[g]
Bypass routes U.S. Route X Bypass,
Bypass U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Bypass (Location) US X Byp.
Byp. US X[g]
Scenic routes U.S. Route X Scenic,
Scenic U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Scenic (Location) US X Scenic
Scenic US X[g]
Spur routes U.S. Route X Spur,
Spur U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Spur (Location) US X Spur
Spur US X
US XS[g]
Truck routes U.S. Route X Truck,
Truck U.S. Route X 		U.S. Route X Truck (Location) US X Truck
Truck US X[g]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Named highways are at <name of road> Highway.
  2. ^ American Samoa uses four-digit numbers, padding them with the necessary zeros.
  3. ^ a b The state name must be added where the route number is repeated in multiple locations. If the segments cover multiple states, use only the terminal state names separated by an en dash (–). In these cases, "Interstate X" should be used as a disambiguation page.
  4. ^ TxDOT uses "IH X" internally, but for consistency, we've standardized on "I-X" to match the other states.
  5. ^ For Alaska, use A-X. For Hawaii, use H-X. For Puerto Rico, use PRI-X.
  6. ^ The official AASHTO route logs and documents refer to these highways as "U.S. Route X" while "United States Highway" appears as the heading for each route in the 1989 log, United States Numbered Highways. The term "U.S. Highway X" is used by many state DOTs, and may be used in article prose where this nomenclature is prevalent.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Hyphenation varies by state at this time
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