Wikipedia:Notability (streets, roads, and highways)

Wikipedia has many articles on streets, roads, and highways. The world has so many of these that obviously, not every one of them can be notable. Detailed street maps exist, showing every little side street in the area they cover. These published directories, when up-to-date, provide reliable information. But even though every single street in the area they cover is found within them, they do not render any of these routes notable for inclusion in an encyclopedia.

Assumption has it, main arteries are always notable, side streets are never. That is not always the case. There are always exceptions to the rule either way. Regardless, Wikipedia is not a map composed of words. Any street, road, or highway article must be encyclopedic. This means it is not simply a description of what is seen on the map. Yes, what is seen on the map may be described in the article. But such articles should describe additional information beyond what can be found by opening a paper map or visiting a mapping web site. This is equivalent to the Wikipedia guideline that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, requiring that articles go beyond a dictionary entry.

Criteria for inclusion

Streets, roads, and highways, at the very least, must meet Wikipedia's general notability guidelines, meaning coverage in multiple, reliable sources independent of the subject, in order to be worthy of a separate article.

Maps or directories as a source

Street and road maps, whether paper or online, may be used to verify the accuracy of information found within articles on streets, roads, or highways. For example, they show accurately where a road starts and ends, its junctions, and often landmarks along the road. It is also possible to determine a road's exact length using a computerized map system, and to provide a link to the results. While this information can and should be included in such an article, an article on a street or road should include more than just this information. If it is notable, more information will be available.

A single map cannot count as one of the sources used toward establishing notability. Maps of varying scales and from different years or decades can give a lot of information about a route. Using more than one map from different eras shows how a route has changed over time. Detailed maps, which can list every street, should be used sparingly; allowing a detailed map to establish notability would in theory render every side street as notable.

Books as a source

Published books (other than maps or directory-like publications) in most cases are considered a reliable source. Published non-map books that provide factual information about a particular street, road, or highway, such as its history, are valid in establishing notability.

Books used in establishing notability must provide in-depth coverage on the street or road in question. Trivial mention in a book itself does not help render a street notable. For example, if in a 200-page book, one sentence says "The boy walked down Oak Street" when this is the only mention of Oak Street in the book, this does not help render Oak Street as notable.

In the news

News reports about a road may help establish notability if they describe some permanence in the road. For example, news reports describing plans to build, expand, or permanently modify a road (or the outcome thereof), or telling about the road in how it relates to communities or landmarks along the road, are valid in establishing notability.

For example, the permanent closing of Pennsylvania Avenue around the White House, being sourced, is one of several factors contributing to Pennsylvania Avenue's notability as a street.

On the contrary, a temporary construction project that in the end does not alter the design of the street, but is only a routine repair or temporary road closure and detour, does not help render a street notable. Also, trivial information mentioned in the news (e.g. an accident or crime that just happened to occur on the street), even if these are multiple occurrences, is not noteworthy.

Landmarks

Merely having one or more notable landmarks with an address on the street does not make the street notable, even if sources pertaining to the landmark(s) mention they are on that street. However, sources that describe and focus on the street and how it relates to the landmark(s) may help render it notable. Fifth Avenue is renowned for its many sites to the point that its name is associated with those sites.

Some streets are strongly connected with a particular industry due to that industry's historical presence along that street. For example, Wall Street in Manhattan is synonymous with New York's financial district. "K Street" is often used as a term referencing the U.S. lobbying industry, whose offices are centered around K Street NW in Washington. In London, Fleet Street often refers to the press, even though no press offices are located on it presently.

Invalid criteria

Certain features of a street or road may give the perception that they are notable and therefore worthy of an article. However, any number of these features do not alone render notability.

Being a "main" road

A street or road may be viewed as a "main" road that runs through a city, town, or neighborhood. This is a matter of human perception and is just that. While it may be the main road for a defined area, it may be minor in the overall picture of a larger area.

If this "main" road is part of a larger defined route that is notable (such as a numbered route), it is acceptable and highly encouraged for its name to redirect to the article on the larger route, where if described in that article, can be a targeted redirect. If the name is shared with the title of one or more other articles, it can be placed on a disambiguation page or hatnote.

Portrayal by a map

If a street or road appears in bold print in one or more printed or online maps (thereby implying it is a "main road" or otherwise of higher importance than other surrounding streets), this alone does not render it notable. Each map publication has its own standards for making such determination. But this does not tell anything otherwise about the road that can be printed in a Wikipedia article other than this fact.

Length

A road is not considered to be notable solely on the basis that it is at least x miles/kilometers long. No length will guarantee any road reliable sources other than a map or trivia. And coming up with a number to fill that "x" is not accepted under Wikipedia's practices.

Width

Likewise, width does not define a road as being notable or not. If a road is divided by painted lines, has multiple traffic lanes, a median strip, a shoulder, or any other similar characteristics, or is otherwise wider than other roads in the area where it is located, this does not define a road as notable.

Location in a central business district

Simply being found in a central business district does not alone render a street notable. While there is a high likelihood that reliable sources good enough to render notability can be found for major streets in a central business district, many CBDs have small side-streets that are clearly not notable.

Having an exit along a highway

If a street or road has an exit off of a limited-access highway, this does not grant it automatic notability. If so, it can still be listed (without a link) on a list of exits in the article on that highway.

Many roads that are not limited access will have a single highway-like interchange with another road. It is possible in some such cases that neither road will be notable, and no such article can be created.

Lists of streets or roads

Under certain circumstances, a list of streets or roads in a jurisdiction can be created. This can be an alternative to creating numerous standalone articles on individual streets or roads in the area.

Such a list, however, should not be comprehensive as to the streets and roads in the jurisdiction, since Wikipedia is not a directory.

Some criteria in determining what should be on such a list include:

1. Street or road already has an article of its own, or is part of a named or numbered route that does
2. The street or road is mentioned in another article as something that matters about the subject of that article, in which case, it could link via a targeted redirect to the street on the list
3. One or more sources of notable information can be found about the street or road, but not enough to create a separate article

Streets/roads should not be listed solely for the following reasons:

1. Has one or more physical features that give the appearance of being a more primary road
2. Is printed in a bolder line than other streets/roads in a published map
3. Is of any certain length from start to finish
4. Is located in a central business district or in the center of a town
5. Is a numbered street in a series of numbered streets
6. Is called "Main Street" or some other similar name
7. One or more other streets/roads on the list begin or end at that street/road. On that listing, the mentioned street/road can be bold-printed or left in plain text.

Other guidelines

The titles of some semi-notable streets that cannot qualify for standalone articles can redirect to other titles of more notable subjects. They can also redirect to a list of streets in that jurisdiction, if such a list exists. If their name shares the title with other streets or other subjects, they should be properly disambiguated.

Road and highway systems

Roads that are a part of a country's or jurisdiction's road or highway system are notable, as they are generally well-covered. This includes numbered routes within a numbered route system. Not all places have numbered route systems, but places that don't may have some alternate systems. If this is the case, that is likewise notable.

If all or a substantial part of a named street, road, or highway is a segment of a numbered route, the named route should be mentioned in the article on the numbered route, and its title should redirect to the article on the numbered route, unless either there is a enough referenced information that can be independently told about the named street in a standalone article, or if only an insignificant portion of the road is part of a numbered route, and the road itself aside from the numbered route is notable. It is acceptable in these cases to use a targeted redirect for the name (#REDIRECT [[Route N#Street name]]).

If a major street or road has and can have an article using its name as a title, and a small portion of it is numbered, it is recommended that the title of the number redirect to the name.

This guideline does not apply to numbered streets. Many cities and towns, mostly in North America, have numbered street systems. When such is the case, not every numbered street is notable. In fact, it is possible, especially in smaller towns, that none of these streets will be notable. In major cities, only those meeting the criteria on this page are notable.

Part of a larger route

If a named street is part of a numbered route or some other larger notable route bearing a single name, and there is an article on that route, the title of the individual street should redirect to the title of the larger route. It can then be described in the article on that route.

Limited access highways

Limited access highways are generally a major part of a country's or region's infrastructure, and are therefore notable. Additionally, parts of a national highway that transverse several divisions within a country may have separate standalone articles describing the highway within each division. For example, in the United States, many interstate highways have separate articles on the highway in each state they transverse due to the large amount of information that is written within them.

Features of streets, roads, and highways

In most cases, features of streets, roads, and highways that have articles should be mentioned within the article on the route. Often, it is that very feature that makes the route notable. If the feature is sourced, this may count toward its notability.

Named bridges and tunnels usually meet WP:N requirements and therefore can have their own articles. Unnamed or informally named bridges and tunnels (e.g. the ______ Street Bridge or the ______ Road underpass) should be mentioned within the article. In some cases, a bridge bearing the name of a street may be notable when that street is not.

Intersections and interchanges are rarely notable enough to have standalone articles. Named interchanges may warrant exceptions.

Location of an event

Streets and roads that are the location of a single annual or historical event, but are otherwise not notable for anything else, should redirect to the title of that event. This is similar to the one event guideline for living people. For example, Miracle on 34th Street (Baltimore) is an annual event that takes place on a side street that is otherwise not notable. 34th Street (Baltimore) is currently a targeted redirect to List of streets in Baltimore, Maryland. If the latter page did not exist, it would simply redirect to the event name.

Streets and roads that are the location for multiple annual or historical events are notable on this basis.