Talk:U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut

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Good article U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut has been listed as one of the Engineering and technology good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
April 9, 2008 Good article nominee Listed
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Topics U.S. Highways Connecticut Routes
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[edit] History notes

The Boston Post Road roughly followed US 5 between New Haven and Hartford, but stayed on the west side of the Connecticut River north of Hartford. (This was US 5A for a while, and now Route 159. Route 2 and US 5 always crossed at Hartford.)

  • 1804 map: no road along US 5 north of Wallingford; main road northeast from New Haven to Middletown and north along the river to Hartford (now roughly Route 17 and Route 99; also New Haven north to Wallingford and east to Durham; no road north from East Hartford
  • 1796 map is more detailed, and does show north from East Hartford, but not as a post road, only as a road; the post road between New Haven and Hartford goes roughly US 5/Kings Highway, crossing the Quinnipiac River near Toelles Road, then along Farms Road, Murdock Avenue, Four Rod Road to Kensington, Routes 160 and 3 to Wethersfield, and Route 99 to Hartford. This was not necessarily the main road, just the way the mail went.
  • Several other maps from the 1790s show two routes north from New Haven. One crossed the Quinnipiac at North Haven, roughly following US 5 to Wallingford, then it appears to use Farms Road, Murdock Avenue, Preston Avenue, Atkins Street, Beckley Road, and Routes 160 and 3 to Wethersfield. The other follows Routes 17 and 99.

In the 1810s, Congress established a number of post roads in Connecticut, including:[1]

  • New Haven, North Haven, Wallingford, Berlin, Wethersfield, Hartford, Windsor, Suffield
  • New Haven, Durham, Middletown, Wethersfield
  • East Hartford, East Windsor, Springfield

[edit] New England Route 2 routing

From Automobile Blue Book (1925):

  • New Haven: Temple & Chapel (Jct with NE-1) - north on Temple - right on Bishop St (ALA Green Book uses Edwards instead of Bishop) - left on State - right on Ferry St over RR bridge then left to Middletown Ave
  • Montowese: left on diagonal 4-corners (current jct Rte 17 and Rt 103)
  • North Haven center (Broadway and Rte 103)
  • Wallingford center via Main St (center st and main st)
  • Tracy (Rte 71 and Rte 150)
  • Meriden via Rte 71 (main & colony)
  • Berlin via worthington ridge rd (worthington ridge rd and mill st)
  • Hartford (at Central Row): Maple Ave - Main St - Central Row/State St - Columbus Blvd - Bulkeley Bridge


The main difference from what the article currently has is through Meriden, and the 1916 handbook also shows that as the main road. That did become US 5A later, so it makes sense that it was old US 5. How does the 1925 Blue Book take it out of Wallingford? --NE2 17:52, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
It comes in from the south using South Main Street, which branches off from current US 5 south of the town center. However, the blue book routing tends to go through town centers so it is not clear if South Main Street was signed as Route 2/US 5. The book does indicate "(outskirts)" for places where it passes far from the town center and Wallingford does not have such an indication. However South Colony Road (current US 5) is reasonably close to the town center though not the exact town center. Going north out of town, the book is unclear. Reasonable guesses are west on Center St then north on North Colony St (the bus route), or north on North Main St, west on Cedar Lane and north on North Colony Road. --Polaron | Talk 18:18, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
The 1916 guide says that "the blue-marked road does not pass through but leaves somewhat to the east the town of Wallingford". That sounds to me like it stayed on Colony Street. Given that and the fact that we have no maps showing that it moved to Main Street, only to move back later, I think we can assume it used Colony Street, in the absence of any evidence otherwise. By the way, a few pages later it states clearly that the route follows Old Colony Road, Cook Avenue, and Colony Street; if it was not the blue-marked road that would be stated and a better description of where to turn would be included. According to [2], the bypass of Meriden was upgraded (it was the old turnpike according to The Turnpikes of New England) and designated US 5A, and became US 5 in 1941. --NE2 19:12, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
Yup, South Colony Rd is basically three blocks from the town center (so it is basically already in the town center) and passes by the railroad station so I think it is reasonable to assume the signed route stayed on South and North Colony St/Rd. --Polaron | Talk 20:00, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] GA review

GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose): b (MoS):
    Possibly need to bold "U.S. Route 5", though check the MOS on that one. Needs {{convert}} templates for units. "Lengthy" is a relative term, and extraneous. "the roadway downgrades to a two-lane roadway"... is 'downgrades' really the right word there? I'm not sure, just asking. There are no shields in the junction list; while they certainly aren't a requirement, is this intended?
    WP:LEAD says to avoid links in the bold title words. Since the title is descriptive rather than a name, I believe bolding is not necessary. I've added km conversions for all mile units in the text. I've also changed "downgrades to" to the more neutral "becomes a". The junction list does not have shields as the Connecticut Routes project does not require them. Would it be preferable to add them? If so, let me know and I'll add the shields. --Polaron | Talk 18:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
    Looks good. I forgot to mention non-breaking spaces between the number and its unit, and between the month/day and its year, per the MOS. ({{convert}} does this automatically, which is why I recommend it on GA reviews all the time). —Rob (talk) 19:15, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
    OK I think I've added nbsps and convert templates as appropriate to the entire article. --Polaron | Talk 19:33, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
    The entire "Route description" is unreferenced. Links to Google Maps are acceptable; see various other state route GA articles.
    Added references to Google Maps and the route log.--Polaron | Talk 18:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
    Optional: who is Timothy W. Laffin and why is the highway named after him?
    Information added to article. --Polaron | Talk 19:13, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars etc.:
  6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
    The CT Route 2 image is sticking out conspicuously in the middle of a paragraph. Better to make it a thumbnail with a short caption explaining how the image is relevant to the section. Image:Ct15-us5 south split.jpg could use a trip to the Image Lab. I am glad for the map, but it doesn't quite follow the maps task force standards.
    Will try and get a better image of the south split and ask for a more standard map at MTF. Made the New England Route 2 shield a thumbnail with caption.--Polaron | Talk 18:35, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:

Good job! —Rob (talk) 17:50, 9 April 2008 (UTC)