Talk:Lists of Interstate Highways

Requested move 31 December 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. After much-extended time for discussion, there is nothing resembling a consensus in favor of the proposed moves. BD2412 T 01:56, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

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• Lists of Interstate Highways → Lists of interstate highways
• List of auxiliary Interstate Highways → List of auxiliary interstate highwaysList of auxiliary interstate highways
• List of future Interstate Highways → List of future interstate highwaysList of future interstate highways
• List of gaps in Interstate Highways → List of gaps in interstate highways
• List of suffixed Interstate Highways → List of suffixed interstate highways
• List of Interstate Highways in Alabama → List of interstate highways in Alabama
• List of Interstate Highways in Alaska → List of interstate highways in Alaska
• List of Interstate Highways in Arizona → List of interstate highways in Arizona
• List of Interstate Highways in Arkansas → List of interstate highways in Arkansas
• List of Interstate Highways in California → List of interstate highways in California
• List of Interstate Highways in Colorado → List of interstate highways in ColoradoList of interstate highways in Colorado
• List of Interstate Highways in Connecticut → List of interstate highways in Connecticut
• List of Interstate Highways in Florida → List of interstate highways in Florida
• List of Interstate Highways in Georgia → List of interstate highways in Georgia
• List of Interstate Highways in Idaho → List of interstate highways in Idaho
• List of Interstate Highways in Illinois → List of interstate highways in Illinois
• List of Interstate Highways in Indiana → List of interstate highways in Indiana
• List of Interstate Highways in Iowa → List of interstate highways in Iowa
• List of Interstate Highways in Kansas → List of interstate highways in Kansas
• List of Interstate Highways in Kentucky → List of interstate highways in Kentucky
• List of Interstate Highways in Louisiana → List of interstate highways in Louisiana
• List of Interstate Highways in Maine → List of interstate highways in Maine
• List of Interstate Highways in Maryland → List of interstate highways in Maryland
• List of Interstate Highways in Massachusetts → List of interstate highways in Massachusetts
• List of Interstate Highways in Michigan → List of interstate highways in Michigan
• List of Interstate Highways in Minnesota → List of interstate highways in Minnesota
• List of Interstate Highways in Mississippi → List of interstate highways in Mississippi
• List of Interstate Highways in Missouri → List of interstate highways in Missouri
• List of Interstate Highways in Montana → List of interstate highways in Montana
• List of Interstate Highways in Nebraska → List of interstate highways in Nebraska
• List of Interstate Highways in Nevada → List of interstate highways in Nevada
• List of Interstate Highways in New Hampshire → List of interstate highways in New Hampshire
• List of Interstate Highways in New Jersey → List of interstate highways in New Jersey
• List of Interstate Highways in New Mexico → List of interstate highways in New Mexico
• List of Interstate Highways in New York → List of interstate highways in New York
• List of Interstate Highways in North Carolina → List of interstate highways in North Carolina
• List of Interstate Highways in North Dakota → List of interstate highways in North Dakota
• List of Interstate Highways in Ohio → List of interstate highways in Ohio
• List of Interstate Highways in Oklahoma → List of interstate highways in Oklahoma
• List of Interstate Highways in Oregon → List of interstate highways in Oregon
• List of Interstate Highways in Pennsylvania → List of interstate highways in Pennsylvania
• List of Interstate Highways in South Carolina → List of interstate highways in South Carolina
• List of Interstate Highways in South Dakota → List of interstate highways in South Dakota
• List of Interstate Highways in Tennessee → List of interstate highways in Tennessee
• List of Interstate Highways in Texas → List of interstate highways in Texas
• List of Interstate Highways in Utah → List of interstate highways in Utah
• List of Interstate Highways in Virginia → List of interstate highways in Virginia
• List of Interstate Highways in Washington → List of interstate highways in Washington
• List of Interstate Highways in Washington, D.C. → List of interstate highways in Washington, D.C.
• List of Interstate Highways in West Virginia → List of interstate highways in West Virginia
• List of Interstate Highways in Wisconsin → List of interstate highways in Wisconsin
• List of Interstate Highways in Wyoming → List of interstate highways in Wyoming

– Reason 1: WP:SENTENCECASE. Both “interstate” and “highways” are common adjectives and nouns respectively and should not be capitalized. The Interstate Highway System is exempted since it is the formal name of the highway network. In fact, Wikipedia already makes this distinction with other country’s highway lists versus formal institutions:

• List of national highways in India → National Highways Authority of India and National Highways Development Project
• List of national highways in Nepal by province → National Highway System (Nepal) (since redirected, but the point still stands)
• List of national routes of Costa Rica → National Road Network of Costa Rica

– Reason 2: Outside sources.

• The United States Army uses lowercase when referring to them generically: “Many Army posts, especially where division-level units are garrisoned, are near interstate highways.”

• As does the Eisenhower Library: "It was not until June 29, 1956, when President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, that interstate highways began to meet the challenge of the growing number of automobiles on the nation’s highways."

• And the History Channel (for what it's worth): "The law authorized the construction of a 41,000-mile network of interstate highways that would span the nation."

– Reason 3: WP:CONSISTENT with existing state highway lists. If this proposal earns consensus, I'll then nominate United States Numbered Highway System lists so that every list of highways in U.S. states will have uniformity. For instance, Kansas would have these lists:

• List of state highways in Kansas (already lowercase)
• List of Interstate Highways in Kansas → List of interstate highways in Kansas
• List of U.S. Highways in Kansas → List of U.S. highways in Kansas

Note: When referring to individual interstate highways, the I or interstate before the number would still be capitalized. For example, “The longest interstate highway is Interstate 90, followed by I-80.” Woko Sapien (talk) 19:05, 31 December 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 01:21, 8 January 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. Thanks, 1isall (talk | contribs) . . (he/him) 03:44, 15 January 2026 (UTC) — Relisting.  — Amakuru (talk) 15:31, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose. "Interstate Highway" is the proper name of the system and a special designation; the use of lowercase "interstate highway" would imply that the inclusion criteria includes any highway that goes between states, of which there is a separate national system and plenty of coordinated state numberings that would apply. This would create unnecessary confusion. SounderBruce 19:53, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

  "Interstate" is the proper name of each individual highway, not necessarily of the class of highways that are comprised of each Interstate. Katzrockso (talk) 20:28, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

• Support — (moderate to strong) — I understand the above "oppose" opinion, but we should be careful how we wield Wikivoice. Short of crystal-clear policy or strong guidelines, we go with what the sources say. A (local source), (local source), (local source), (local source), the NYT, LA Times, NPR, and The Boston Globe, all seem to indicate that sentence case is commonly used (and I could keep going - capital letters are seemingly only utilized when describing the system itself or a specific interstate highway).
  I further agree with the nominator's contention that "Interstate Highway System" is the proper name. WP:NCCAPS is clear guidance in the first sentence: "Do not capitalize the second or subsequent words in an article title, unless the title is a proper name." "Interstate highway" is not the proper name, full-stop. The current capitalization scheme further offers no benefit nor additional understanding to the average reader, in my opinion.
  The CONSISTENTargument makes sense, as well.
  All of this said, we should be careful about what we do and not capitalize. There seems to be a plethora of official names, e.g. "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System", just to point-out. EDIT: The suggested "list of interstate highways" should be "list of U.S. interstate highways" or "list of United States interstate highways" to avoid worldwide issues.
  EDIT 2: I hope no one minds, I just wish to consolidate sources which use the lowercase "interstate highway(s)" that I've already mentioned in one spot:

• Eisenhower Library

• History.com article

• FOX9

• Times Record News

• The Gazette

• Dallas Business Journal

• LA Times

• NPR

• Boston Globe

• ABC7 Chicago

• United States Army

• The Sacramento Bee

• U.S. Department of Transportation

• Prologue Magazine via the National Archives

• EPA article

• NCBI / PMC article

• Illinois State Archives

• United States Geological Survey

• Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

• New York Times

MWFwiki (talk) 20:30, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

Let's pick one state as an example, California. Currently we have List of U.S. Routes in California, all of which are interstate highways (no capitalization) but not Interstate Highways (i.e. they do not have the red and blue 5 point shield and are not funded with Interstate Highway funds, nor are built to Interstate Highway standards) and are therefore not included in the list List of Interstate Highways in California. How would you propose to handle this, as once the capitalization is removed, there is no meaningful distinction between these two lists? From a practical standpoint there is no separate list of "safe roads" for oversized truck drivers, as that is one of the things the red and blue 5 point Interstate Highway shield signifies that the 6 point black and white U.S. Highway shield does not. This seems like a lot of busy work to make things more complicated that they already are.Dave (talk) 06:07, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

Either merge the lists or simply explain it in the body, or both. We don't get to decide, we are guided by the sources and policy. I don't necessarily disagree that it's annoying (in fact, I would strongly agree that it is) but we can't just ignore the sources "because." Even the DoT uses "Interstate highway(s)" vice "Interstate Highways." I would be satisfied with the former, as a compromise and given that it appears to be the DoT's verbiage. MWFwiki (talk) 23:43, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

How does sources apply here? this isn't an argument about facts. This is a dispute about what everybody else calls a "style guide". Wikipedia does not follow the style guides of any other media outlet, we have our own, the MOS. So I don't follow the logic of "we have to do it this way because some other media outlet did 50 years ago."Dave (talk) 06:02, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

Here is another relevant Sacramento Bee article , which states "An official interstate highway designation has to come from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials — an affiliation of Caltrans-type people from all 50 states — and approved by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration." Katzrockso (talk) 01:50, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose - per SounderBruce. These lists are about highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System, which is a proper name. An Interstate Highway is any highway that is part of the Interstate Highway System, whereas an interstate highway is, by definition, any highway that runs between two or more states. For example, U.S. Route 70 is an interstate highway, but not an Interstate Highway. Interstate 16, on the other hand, is an Interstate Highway because it is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, but not an interstate highway because it is only located in one state. Also, "state highway" is not always a proper name. Different states use different titles for their local roads. Bneu2013 (talk) 22:15, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose. The Interstate Highway System, though uses common nouns like "highway", still utilizes capital letters. An "interstate highway" is a highway not from the "Interstate Highway System" but is a public highway where cars cross states. An "Interstate Highway" is a highway from the "Interstate Highway System" that basically does the same as the uncapitalized one but is in the "Interstate Highway System." Zappingsbrew (talk) 05:14, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

EDIT: Something else I should have included in my initial statement is that "interstate highway" is not specifically an American term. To be consistent, per WP:WORLDWIDE, we should not not use terms that may not be easily understandable to everyone. For example, someone who knows very little about the United States might wonder why the US Numbered Highway System is not part of the Interstate Highway System if they recognize both systems to consist of trans-state highways. Bneu2013 (talk) 02:17, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

• How do you account for how the sources handle it? I listed multiple above, but here are more discussing I-90, US Army utilizes "interstate highways" when discussing the various highways of the IHS, TRIP, a "National Transportation Research Nonprofit" does the same [EDIT: I take that back, TRIP seemingly uses all three interchangeably; "Interstate Highways", "Interstate highways", and "interstate highways"], The Sacramento Bee too, History.com as well... and as-shown above, the NYT, Boston Globe, and NPR. Quite frankly, it appears that only Wikipedia and a few disparate sources use the capitalization system we have, now. It may or may not be correct, but the sources clearly do use the proposed capitalization. As I said in my "support" opinion, above; We should be careful how we capitalize or not. "An Interstate" should likely be capitalized as-such when referring to "an Interstate [of the IHS]," for example. Lastly, even when the USG styles something one way, we may not necessarily comply. For instance, the DA, DAF, DoN, and DHS all refer to their personnel as "Soldiers", "Airmen", "Sailors", and "Coast Guardsmen", respectively, while we do not capitalize them as-such. MWFwiki (talk) 22:40, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

  The sources aren't using the proper capitalization. I don't mean to be belligerent, but most journalists couldn't tell you the difference between a highway that is part of the IHS and any road that crosses between two or more states. Also, History.com is an unreliable source. Since these lists are only about highways that are part of the IHS, we should use the capitalization. For example, referring to I-16 as an "Interstate highway" would not be accurate, because it is only located in one state. However, it is part of the IHS, so it is an Interstate Highway. Prior to the establishment of the IHS, "interstate highway" was a common moniker for US Routes and other highways that passed through multiple states. See also this discussion about this topic. Pinging Imzadi1979, since he was involved in that discussion, and SounderBruce, who could probably describe this better than me. Bneu2013 (talk) 01:10, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  I don't feel that you are being belligerent, I feel you make good points and if we were anywhere else apart from Wikipedia I would endorse your position.

  Wasn't sure if History had been deprecated or not, but the point stands; NYT, The Boston Globe, LA Times, and NPR are all most certainly not unreliable. "The sources aren't using the proper capitalization." Quite frankly, this doesn't matter. We're not here to determine whom is correct or not, merely to repeat what secondary sources (predominantly) say within the bounds of policy, guidelines, and consensus, as I'm quite certain you are aware. Otherwise, I'm seeing a lot of opinion and not a lot of policy and sources. Even the DOT doesn't use "Interstate Highways," though they admittedly use "Interstate highways" (and another DOT source that does the same). Additionally: EisenhowerLibrary.gov — "interstate highways", Prologue Magazine via the U.S. National Archives — "interstate highways", Environmental Protection Agency — "interstate highways", American Public Health Association paper — "interstate highways", government of Illinois — "interstate highways", United States Geological Survey — "interstate highways", Pennsylvania Department of Transportation — "interstate highways". MWFwiki (talk) 01:32, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  Per WP:RSPHISTORY, History.com is generally unreliable, one step above deprecated. I must admit I do have a bias here, as a regular roads editor and road enthusiast. This is how I know that most journalists, laymen, and even many FHWA and state DOT employees probably don't know the difference. This is also how I know that the term "interstate highway" was in use long before the IHS. This is the origin of such names as the Interstate Bridge and Interstate Highway Bridge (capitalized because they are the proper names of the bridges). It is also my opinion that we should continue to use the current capitalization standard. However, this is to avoid confusion, as I mentioned above, with other interstate highways that are not part of the IHS. This is particularly important when considering the history of the term prior to 1956 and from a worldwide perspective, something I should have brought up in my initial statement. There are also "interstate highways" in other countries. Someone from another country who knows little about the United States might also wonder why the US Numbered Highway System isn't part of the IHS, if they know that both systems consist of trans-state highways. With regards to state designated highways, different states have different proper names for their highways. Most states call them "State Routes" or just "Routes". Texas calls them "State Highways", North Carolina "Highways", Florida "State Roads", and I'm pretty sure Michigan and Kansas don't have official monikers for them. Comparing this list to lists of state and US highways (which are officially "US Routes" is comparing apples and oranges. Bneu2013 (talk) 02:13, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  And in this case, with dozens of supporting sources saying the same thing, it would likely be reliable, is my point, at least for the purposes of this discussion and especially given that we aren't discussing the article proper.

  I do agree that "list of interstate highways" would need to be changed to "list of United States interstate highways" or what have you, addressing the U.S.-centric issue, here, pinging @Woko Sapien to suggest to change that (I would argue that is actually confusing for readers as-is, given many if not most don't understand our case policies, but I digress). All else of what you say is informative, but does not align with sourcing. I understand the arguments. But quite frankly, a cabal of editors with a strong opinion does not outweigh sources and policy. MWFwiki (talk) 03:29, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  I am surprised you cited the NYT article. Right there underneath the headline it capitalizes "Interstate". Bruce leverett (talk) 02:41, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  It doesn't? It says "Interstate I95", which no one is questioning. It utilizes "interstate highway" in the body of the article. Even if that were the case, there are dozens that spell it sans capitalization, and it still doesn't support "Interstate Highways" - at mist, it would support "Interstate highways", as the Department of Transportation uses. MWFwiki (talk) 03:22, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

• Support per nom. Interstate Highway System is a proper name; interstate highway is not. Jessintime (talk) 22:57, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

  "Interstate Highway" is a proper name. Theses lists refer to the highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System, not all interstate highways. Bneu2013 (talk) 00:59, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  It's also not super clear whether or not "Interstate Highway System" is a proper noun, given that archives.gov uses it in the lowercase form; (All this might never have happened if Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower had not been involved with the 1919 transcontinental convoy, for the history of the interstate highway system certainly begins with this event.; Today's interstate highway system—; Katzrockso (talk) 07:40, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  "Interstate Highway System" is definitely a proper name when referring to the shortened name of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Bneu2013 (talk) 06:44, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose per SounderBruce and Bneu2013. Bruce leverett (talk) 02:51, 1 January 2026 (UTC)
• Oppose—for the simple fact that "Interstate Highway" is a proper title. To illustrate that fact, remember that Interstate 96 is an Interstate Highway, but it is not an interstate highway. (It never leaves Michigan). That is just one example. U.S. Highway 2 is an interstate highway (it runs from Washington to Michigan and then from New York to Maine), but it is not an Interstate Highway. The capitalization matters and should be retained. Imzadi 1979 → 05:28, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  Somewhere above, someone said that we should use "Interstate 90 is the longest interstate highway" in running text. Well, U.S. Highway 20 is longer. Without the capitalization, that statement is ambiguous. US 20 runs from Oregon to Massachusetts, so it's an interstate highway, but it is not an Interstate Highway. Additionally, dropping the capital to make "U.S. highway" is likewise ambiguous because now a reader wouldn't be sure if someone meant any highway within the United States, or a part of the United States Numbered Highway System, aka the U.S. Highway System. Imzadi 1979 → 05:47, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  An unambiguous way to phrase that would be "Interstate 90 is the longest road in the Interstate Highway System". Katzrockso (talk) 01:48, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose- The Interstate Highway System is a proper noun. As I've said oh so many times before every time this debate comes up, Interstate 17 is an Interstate Highway but not an intestate highway. U.S. Route 1 is an interstate highway but not an Interstate Highway. Dave (talk) 05:36, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  What reliable sources make this distinction? Katzrockso (talk) 07:38, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  Let me repeat my other example I used above. Let's take the list List of U.S. Routes in California, every one of the highways on that list is an interstate highway, but not an Interstate Highway and not included on the list List of Interstate Highways in California. So if capitalization is removed would those two lists be combined, as they would effectively become redundant? That also loses the practical implications of keeping separate lists for Interstate Highways, they are built to higher standards than interstate highways, and while this distinction is largely useless to the average motorist, it is very much relevant to truck drivers, especially those with oversize loads. To them the difference between an interstate highway (6 point black and white shield) and an Interstate Highway (5 point blue and red shield) means the difference between a safe trip and being jackknifed and stuck under a low clearance bridge. The sources cited do not have to make such distinctions as they are not covering the system and its members in as broad of a scope as Wikipedia.Dave (talk) 16:46, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  If the sources do not make a distinction between Interstate Highways (capitalized) and interstate highways (lowercase), on what basis on we making this distinction? I understand that you are making such a distinction, but I don't see any reliable sources to support it. Katzrockso (talk) 20:15, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

  I think that's a poor argument. We're not arguing about facts, we are arguing about a style guide, or as Wikipedia calls it the Manual of Style. Wikipedia does NOT follow the style guide of the sources used, we have our own. To give a counter example, numerous news sources in Southern California would refer to an accident on "the 5", as the road is colloquially known there. We CANNOT follow that style guide, nor should we, as while "the 5" is clear to a Southern California audience, there are literally hundreds of roads numbered 5 on planet earth. Because our audience is global, we have to use the formal, proper name of "Interstate 5". That is but one example but there's thousands and you could pick literally any news source and find such examples. Dave (talk) 06:05, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

  Our style guide explicitly says to use lowercase forms except when a substantial majority of sources use capitalization. When the words "interstate highways" are searched, they are mostly all lowercase, not uppercase. See the comment by MWFwiki.

  The rest of your comment is some red herring about "the 5" (?). Katzrockso (talk) 06:50, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

  It's not a red herring; he's pointing out how we have to consider how our audiences are different from that of the sources we cite. This is no different for the term "interstate" or "interstate highway", which is not entirely an American term and was in use in the United States long before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. An American who reads an article about "an accident on the interstate" (lowercase) from their local news station will probably know that this is referring to a controlled-access highway with the red, white, and blue shields. Someone in the UK, however, might not know this, especially if they know that the United States is divided into states but knows nothing about our road networks. Or, if they've heard of the Interstate Highway System but know next to nothing about it, they might incorrectly assume the Interstate Highway Bridge is part of it. Bneu2013 (talk) 09:19, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

If we only changed capitalization, the problems you describe above would be real, but like with every style issue, we can solve them. Perhaps this list could be named Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System or something better, then do something similar to others. I suspect a creative solution can be found that is both clear and works in Wikipedia's style. SchreiberBike | ⌨  17:33, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

That's certainly better than the original proposal, and one I could support as a plan B. However, I'm still not convinced we have a problem in the first place that merits a change; the current naming convention has been in place for 20+ years and has passed the pedantry test before. Dave (talk) 18:20, 1 January 2026 (UTC)

• Support: By Wikipedia's standards interstate highway by itself is not a proper noun/name any more than is university even though universities tend to capitalize when referring to themselves. Interstate 90 is a proper name. Interstate Highway System is a proper name. Interstate and interstate highway are not. According to the lead of Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters "Wikipedia avoids unnecessary capitalization. In English, capitalization is primarily needed for proper names, acronyms, and for the first letter of a sentence." Defining exactly what is and is not a proper noun is quite difficult around the edges, and this is an edge case, but we follow the Wikipedia Manual of Style here on Wikipedia, and we should not treat it as a proper noun when it does not meet the definition of proper noun or proper name. SchreiberBike | ⌨  13:14, 1 January 2026 (UTC)
• Support. Many editors have claimed that "Interstate Highway" is a proper noun. However, I fail to see any sources that make a distinction between interstate highways (lowercase) and Interstate Highways (uppercase); this appears (at least in terms of sources) to be an invention of Wikipedia editors. We should not be in the practice of constructing neologisms or inventing differences in meaning based on capitalization that are not based on sources, this is precisely why MOS:CAPS states Wikipedia avoids unnecessary capitalization ... only words and phrases that are consistently capitalized in a substantial majority of independent, reliable sources are capitalized in Wikipedia. Additionally, WP:V is a core Wikipedia policy. If we are creating an entire distinction between different types of highways that is supposed to correspond to differential capitalization, there has to be sources to support such a distinction. I have seen no sources provided, nor did my search locate any. Claims that every single source (including the Department of Transportation) is using the incorrect capitalization ("The sources aren't using the proper capitalization") smell strongly of WP:Original research and are contrary to Wikipedia policies WP:RS, WP:V, MOS:CAPS, etc. Katzrockso (talk) 01:46, 2 January 2026 (UTC)
• I have a rather mixed opinion on this proposal. But overall for the purposes of this discussion, treat it as oppose in the proposal's current form. In detail: I am strongly and categorically opposed to lowercasing the word "Interstate" in any of these given the fact that official sources almost universally capitalize the word. As for the word "highway"(s), I am neutral on that. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 02:55, 2 January 2026 (UTC)
• Revising my !vote to neutral for the purposes of this RM, I am indifferent with regards to capitalization of "interstate" when referring to lists or the type of road, so long as the word "interstate" remains capitalized when referring to specific roads (eg: Interstate 95, not interstate 95). Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 19:02, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

  Wikipedia does not solely use "official sources" (which is not exactly clear what official sources are in this context), but more broadly reliable sources. Katzrockso (talk) 03:47, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

  @Katzrockso, none of the sources I've seen denote Interstate 95 as "interstate 95" with no capitalization. That's just an example. The word "interstate" without capitalization implies a road going through multiple states, not necessarily a road that is part of the Interstate Highway System. Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 20:59, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

  Because that's two seperate things. "Interstate 95" is correct. "[i]nterstate highway" is correct when referring to them generally. See this NYT article, for example. It states "Interstate 195" and then "interstate highway". As @Katzrockso points-out and as I showed extensively above, the sources utilize lowercase. I readily cede that this may not be "technically correct" or what have you, but we go with what the sources say and deal with the consequences of that as they arise. But yes, even the DoT doesn't capitalize "h" (generally). MWFwiki (talk) 01:41, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

  I've since revised my !vote to neutral (see above). Hurricane Clyde 🌀^{my talk page!} 19:03, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

• Weak support of original proposal per SchreiberBike and Katzrockso. "Interstate Highway System" is the proper name of one specific thing, but "interstate highway" is not. There are many interstate highways. Terms that would often be referred to with an indefinite article ("a" or "an") or found in the plural form are not proper names. Interstate highways are type of thing – a category, not just one single thing. Reliable sources don't consistently capitalize the term. Wikipedia's guidelines say not to capitalize as a way to indicate officialness. By the way, the outdenting of the "Nominator's comment on a potential compromise" is a bit annoying. Are new comments that are not responding about that "potential compromise" supposed to go above that comment or below it? —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 23:17, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

  For transparency, I moved your comment for better visibility, I hope you don't mind, BarrelProof. MWFwiki (talk) 01:33, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

  Apologies if my compromise section caused any formatting issues. I wasn't sure how best to fit it into the main proposal. Woko Sapien (talk) 16:11, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

• Weak oppose – Interstate Highway is an actual highway that is part of the Interstate Highway System; an interstate highway is a type of controlled-access highway (or in California, a freeway). What does the U.S. government use? cookiemonster755 ^(talk) 17:36, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

  @CookieMonster755 most laws use "interstate highway" (lowercase) to refer to highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System. Katzrockso (talk) 20:44, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

  Most laws grab guidance from the MUTCD. 2023 edition

  The feds are going to use capital letters. I see Interstate highways used and then denoting the system as Interstate Highway System. – The Grid (talk) 00:04, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

  The page you linked used "Interstate highway", not "Interstate Highway", so at best the I should be capitalized, but not the "h" in highway.

  However, a quick perusal of justia.com for laws will find lowercase usage in prose. The first page of google results for me:

  • - does not use "interstate highway" in the middle of a sentence (outside of the phrase Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, out of scope here).
  • - uses "national system of interstate and defense highways"
  • - uses "interstate highways" (lowercase)
  • same as the first, does not use in prose.
  • - uses "interstate highway" (lowercase)
  • - uses "interstate highway" (lowercase)
  • - does not use "interstate highway" outside of a proper noun clause (i.e. Delaware Interstate Highway Division is the title for a governmental department)
  • - does not use the phrase in prose, only in the title
  • - same as the previous Delaware law
  • - uses "interstate highway" (lowercase).

  All uses in prose (i.e. not in the title of a law or header of a section, or at the beginning of a sentence which is always capitalized) are lowercase. So they are not following whatever the Department of Transportation is using, that is for sure. Katzrockso (talk) 00:30, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

  The MUTCD uses a capitalized form, so I respectfully remain opposed to renaming the article. cookiemonster755 ^(talk) 12:23, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

  The source you provided uses a lowercase h, so that would support moving the article to the title "Interstate highway". Katzrockso (talk) 14:30, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose per Interstate Highway System. A proper name. Randy Kryn (talk) 12:43, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

  None of these article titles have "Interstate Highway System" in them. The name of the system does not seem relevant. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 14:47, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

  It is a basic feature of the English language that, for example, members of a system called the Interstate Highway System will be named Interstate Highways. The name of the system is a proper noun because that is what a NAME is, and the Interstate Highways that are members are also called by a proper noun because they carry the name of their system of which they are constituent parts. Perhaps English is not your first language? I know the Romance languages are far more restrictive with what gets capped, but English has its own rules.

  I will also note that these RS are reliable for facts about the highways. They are NOT written by English grammar pedants and we should not expect them to follow the rules of what gets capitalized to a T! But some of these questions over whether something is a proper noun are WP:BLUESKY territory and arguing otherwise on the basis of sources that are written by highway experts, and not by English grammar experts, is inane. ~2026-20824-9 (talk) 02:12, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

  This asserted "basic feature of the English language" seems like pure fantasy. As far as I know, English has no such phenomenon (saying that the term for a member of a set should be capitalized if the set is part of some system that has a proper name). I challenge you to find a single source that says otherwise – I'd really like to see it.

  The highest-quality publications have employees whose job function is to ensure that the mistakes made by their sloppiest writers don't (usually) make it into the final publications. You can call these people names if you wish, but such "pedants" are an essential part of the professional publication process. The notion in your second paragraph that we shouldn't worry about following proper orthography contradicts the notion in your first paragraph that this capitalization phenomenon is some customary rule of ordinary writing in English. (And in fact, all of the edits that are associated with with your temporary account identifier seem to be on fine points of grammatical "pedantry".)

  It's true that some publications put their article titles in what is called title case, while others such as Wikipedia have a sentence case practice for their house style, but that's a different custom than the one you describe, and Wikipedia uses WP:SENTENCECASE according to its WP:Manual of Style. The general Wikipedia guidelines for capitalization can be found at WP:MOSCAPS (and you will not find this notion of set membership resulting in capitalization described there). —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 06:44, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

  Seconded. The eventual closer needs to recognize that "I don't like it" does not outweigh sources and policy. MWFwiki (talk) 00:03, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose. As others have mentioned, the meaning of the non-capitalized phrase "interstate highway" refers to any highway that crosses state borders, not just highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System. The word "interstate" has existed for many years before the Interstate Highway System was passed into law. Like many other terms (e.g., Xerox vs. xerox, Airfryer vs. air fryer, Thermos vs. thermos, Band-Aid vs. bandaid/bandage), the capitalization indicates that the highways in the category belong to a specifically named entity, and that it's not just for any highway that crosses state borders. Unless we also intend for the category to become a catch-all for any multi-state highway (which I don't believe is the case), converting to lowercase "interstate highway" only adds confusion, especially for people outside the U.S. who may not be familiar with the system but recognize that capitalization indicates a proper noun that has special meaning. Vmanjr (talk) 02:22, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

  the meaning of the non-capitalized phrase "interstate highway" refers to any highway that crosses state borders, not just highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System This has been repeatedly stated but not one iota of evidence has been offered to support this claim. There is, of course, the common adage "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence" that is highly relevant here. Indeed, the only evidence presented here directly contradicts the idea that "interstate highway" refers to any highway that crosses state borders, given that all extant uses of the term "interstate highway" (lowercase) that have been uncovered and listed in this thread so far refer to "highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System". Katzrockso (talk) 03:34, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

  Time to undismiss.

  International usage: the concept of constituent states is not unique to the U.S., and other countries with states also refer to interstate highways. Take Australia as an example: . Even wiki pages such as Highways in Australia, Kings Highway (Australia), and National Highway (Australia) refer to interstate highways and routes. Other examples include discussions of Mexico's highways, this reference to China's highways as interstate, or a World Bank report on Brazilian highways.

  References to non-Interstate-Highway-System roads in the U.S.: These have admittedly faded over time. Before the current Interstate Highway System was proposed, many state and federal documents referred to the U.S. Highway System as interstate highways. But a few examples: . There even was a federal Joint Board on Interstate Highways back in 1925. Even today, there are modern usages of the non-capitalized "interstate highway" to refer to non-Interstate-Highway-System routes .

  Point is, "interstate highway" continues not to be a term used exclusively for constituent routes of the Interstate Highway System, and the proposed move ignores this in an attempt to conform to poor colloquial capitalization practices. Vmanjr (talk) 09:40, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose original proposal, per Moabdave and Vmanjr. The word "interstate" has 2 meanings: between states, or a member of the system. Here, we mean to characterize the system, regardless of whether it goes between states. TheFeds 03:07, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

  So, because it is convenient for categorization purposes, we get to ignore sources? MWFwiki (talk) 06:59, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

  That's not what I said. If sources don't explain the distinction between interstate and Interstate (or between-states and system-member), and just use one or the other, what evidence do we have that they are aware of or taking a position on the confusion problem? And if they do distinguish, is the basis for their distinction rational and informed, and persuasive when balanced against other considerations that might be applicable to a wiki? TheFeds 01:57, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

• Support move per nom, both proposed targets are fine. If the argument to oppose is that editors assign different meanings to "Interstate Highway" and "interstate highway", then it is just another reason to move, as such a distinction is confusing to readers. Kelob2678 (talk) 21:11, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

Nominator's comment on a potential compromise

Pinging SounderBruce, Katzrockso, MWFwiki, Bneu2013, Bruce leverett, Jessintime, Imzadi1979, Moabdave, SchreiberBike, and Hurricane Clyde. Apologies if I forgot to ping anyone who's participated.

I want to thank everyone who's commented so far (both in favor and against). One recurring element that I've noticed, and some of you have said this outright, is that the lowercase "i" seems to be far more controversial than the lowercase "h". So instead, how would people feel about:

• Lists of Interstate highways
• List of auxiliary Interstate highways
• List of future Interstate highways
• List of gaps in Interstate highways
• List of suffixed Interstate highways
• List of Interstate highways in Alabama, etc.? --Woko Sapien (talk) 23:02, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

Strong oppose any version that does not correspond with our policies and guidelines, which is a lowercase i Katzrockso (talk) 23:37, 2 January 2026 (UTC)

• Strong oppose any version that does not capitalize Interstate, and oppose any version that doesn't also capitalize Highway, as that would be then used as precedent to change "U.S. Highway" to "U.S. highway", which would result in another ambiguity. Using the capitalization removes this ambiguity, and it should be retained. I applaud the attempt at a compromise, but it has issues as well. Imzadi 1979 → 00:26, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

Comment — I think we should go with what the sources say, per @Katzrockso and per the dozen sources I cited above. I cede that the DoT seemingly utilizes "Interstate highway(s)". However, all other sources support lowercase. However, we should disambiguate certain proposed moves with "list of U.S. interstate highways". MWFwiki (talk) 01:35, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

They also just capitalize "Interstate" for most uses in some documents , which is not how the word is capitalized in most of the sources.

Some exceptions; "construction of the interstate highway system, ; "construction of the interstate highway system", ; placing more concerted efforts into interstate highway construction and once again commenced + from a massive bill to spur interstate highway construction + Construction of the interstate highway system displaced over a million people + STEA marked the end of the interstate highway program [I believe a majority of uses in this report were lowercase].

It seems that under the Biden administration, their press releases/briefs all used lowercase. Katzrockso (talk) 04:20, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose - per Imzadi1979 and the arguments I made above concerning the difference between proper names and generic names for roads. I'm open to a compromise, but I currently don't think there's anything wrong with the current practice. Bneu2013 (talk) 09:06, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

Nominator's comment: given that the compromise is somehow even more hated than original proposal, I withdraw any support for this proposal (both the original and the compromise). It's clear there will never be any consensus reached on this one. Woko Sapien (talk) 16:45, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

@Woko Sapien consensus is not based on the sheer number of people !voting for one or another option, but weighted based on adherence to policy. There already is a consensus here based on the policy adherence of the arguments. Katzrockso (talk) 19:02, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

True, but the realist in me is pessimistic. This has devolved into a jury nullification (the argument for the status quo here boils down to "yeah, these might violate WP:SENTENCECASE, but so what?") I can't really make a rules-based counterargument to that. So I'll leave it to the closer to make the final decision. Woko Sapien (talk) 21:01, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

You shouldn't withdraw your support from the proposal altogether, but simply stop worrying about the outcome. Katzrockso (talk) 21:06, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

I agree; you shouldn't withdraw your support. I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm definitely open to a compromise. Bneu2013 (talk) 01:52, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

I don't see how one could be feasibly reached at this point. Woko Sapien (talk) 18:49, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps I was a tad hasty in saying I withdraw my support (I still fundamentally believe that my rationale is correct). However, my instinct that consensus is very unlikely remains unchanged. Woko Sapien (talk) 16:08, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Relisting comment: Relisting as it appears discussion is ongoing. TarnishedPath^talk 01:21, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Note: WikiProject U.S. Roads has been notified of this discussion. TarnishedPath^talk 01:21, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Relisting comment: Giving it one last chance per my talk. Thanks, 1isall (talk | contribs) . . (he/him) 03:44, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Note: WikiProject Lists has been notified of this discussion. Thanks, 1isall (talk | contribs) . . (he/him) 03:45, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Comment In addition to the evidence presented by @MWFwiki and I, there is also ngrams evidence that suggests that in recent years the lowercase form predominates . This remains the case if "the" is prepended to the search , in the American English corpus , and indeed if we even add "system" for a full "the interstate highway system" . On the contrary, the opposition to this move is based entirely on the evidence-free assertion that "Interstate Highway" is a proper noun. MOS:CAPS states that only words and phrases that are consistently capitalized in a substantial majority of independent, reliable sources are capitalized in Wikipedia. Contrary to "consistently capitalized", we only have evidence that a minority of sources are using the capitalized form, which is clearly inconsistent with the phrase being a "proper noun". We need to distinguish between the description of an individual highway (i.e. Interstate 196) which is commonly capitalized with the generic class "interstate highway" which receives mixed capitalization and no predominant form prevails. Katzrockso (talk) 03:56, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

The objections raised by Imzadi1979 are not met by running ngrams. We need to distinguish between a highway that's part of the Interstate system, and a highway that is not part of the system but that runs between states. Undoubtedly there are many sources out there that don't care about that distinction, but we do. If we can't use capitalization, then we must use some more verbose method. So far no one has suggested one. Bruce leverett (talk) 04:48, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Might I suggest that "interstate highway" (lowercase) already refers to "a highway that's part of the Interstate Highway System"? That's what reliable sources seem to suggest (see here ), as well as the law . The error here is interpreting the meaning of the phrase as the composition of the definitions of each component word, rather than understanding that the entire phrase has a particular meaning. You can find dozens of laws that refer to "interstate highway" (all lowercase), but these all very clearly refer to the highways that are part of the "Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways".

Regardless, insofar as we think such a distinction is necessary, such a clarification in scope can be made in the first sentence of the article - we don't need that to be reflected in the title unless there is some other article that it might be confused with. Katzrockso (talk) 05:02, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

If no predominant form prevails, I'd say that the status quo is just as valid under the argument based on ngrams. That leaves the concept that the current capitalization does distinguish, with relative simplicity, between otherwise ambiguous concepts. I-196 does not run interstate, but yet it's an Interstate. US 2 does run interstate, but it's not an Interstate. Switch the capitalization to all lowercase, and the statements are ambiguous and confusing. You'd require rewording to more verbose forms that don't match actual speech just to avoid the ambiguity that retaining the status quo would avoid.

The United States Numbered Highway System was originally deemed an "interstate" highway system in the Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways October 30, 1925. Those highways still run across state lines, meaning they're still interstate in character. Next, any change to the capitalization here will surely be used as precedent and next applied to that system to convert all "U.S. Highways" and "U.S. Routes" to "U.S. highways" and "U.S. routes", which has the ambiguity of determining if a highway is part of that system or just a highway within the country. Imzadi 1979 → 05:12, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

No, according to MOS:CAPS, Wikipedia avoids unnecessary capitalization and Wikipedia relies on sources to determine what is conventionally capitalized; only words and phrases that are consistently capitalized in a substantial majority of independent, reliable sources are capitalized in Wikipedia. We have a small majority of recent sources that do not capitalize the term, despite overrepresenting capitalized forms due to use in titles and indeed most legal sources I found on law.justia.com did not capitalize the term. Absent "consistent capitaliz[ation]", the lowercase form must prevail.

The current form does nothing of the sort, since any reader would need to know that this difference in capitalization conveys something that is unevidenced by any sources that denote that the capitalized form refers to one series of highways and the lowercase form denotes another. No such source has been provided, so are we are supposed to accept that the capitalization demarks such a distinction on faith? A reader might erroneously believe the list to be about "highways still run across state lines" but think that Wikipedia uses title case. This is why capitalization does not distinguish or demark between any allegedly ambiguous concepts in this case. And once again, any supposed ambiguity is resolved in the first sentence of each article which states The following are lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System for Lists of Interstate Highways, There are 71 primary Interstate Highways in the Interstate Highway System, a network of freeways in the United States for List of primary Interstate Highways, etc. If there are any articles that don't use this language form, that can be easily rectified to clarify the scope of the list. Katzrockso (talk) 05:22, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

• Oppose per Interstate Highway System. Randy Kryn (talk) 12:42, 16 January 2026 (UTC)
• Weak oppose per above comments. "interstate" is a common noun that means "to be connecting two or more states", where as "Interstate" refers explicitly to the Interstate Highway System. Speedrunz (talk) 22:43, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

Oppose Interstate Highway is a proper noun here, where Interstate is a name that refers to the system. thetechie@enwiki:~$ she/they | talk 20:39, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

In this usage, "Interstate" is an adjective, not a name. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 22:33, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

That's what I meant, but the point still remains. thetechie@enwiki:~$ she/they | talk 23:17, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

Not really, but Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System would be OK. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 23:48, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you're referring to, or if you're trying to nitpick my criterion, but my oppose vote still stands. thetechie@enwiki:~$ she/they | talk 01:17, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

I was referring to "the point" that you said still remains. It doesn't really remain. My suggestion of Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System was a serious suggestion, not a rhetorical flourish. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 06:00, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

That is a reasonable proposal. cookiemonster755 ^(talk) 09:48, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

• (Inserted here for clarity.) Oppose compromise proposal (small "h"), per Imzadi1979 and TheTechie. "Interstate Highway" is a familiar construction that hints at the non-obvious meaning (i.e. not necessarily an inter-state highway). Lowercase "highway" only detracts from that familiarity, while still requiring the reader to understand the special meaning of "Interstate". TheFeds 03:07, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

• Relisting comment - I originally drafted two different closes of this, but on reflection I think the overall consensus is still a bit muddy, and discussion is still ongoing even today. Thus I'm giving it one more week to hopefully bring some final clarity. When considering the sourced evidence and policies such as MOS:CAPS, it seems that there may be a WP:Consensus in the Wikipedia sense (i.e. not based on number of !votes but on policy arguments) for some sort of move. However, there were concerns raised with the originally-proposed move that interstate highway in lowercase could be interpreted as meaning other routes which cross state lines, and that the term did not take a sufficiently WP:WORLDWIDE view. As such, I think it worth exploring BarrelProof's and ScheiberBike's suggestion of Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System to see if consensus can be formed around that? Cheers  — Amakuru (talk) 15:31, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

  While I now have no issue with the alternative proposal of "Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System" (see below), I would note that lowercase interstate highway does not have the connotation of "other routes which cross state lines" in the usage I could find in any sources, so such a confusion would be merely theoretical rather than evidenced. Indeed, I couldn't find usage of the term "interstate highway" to refer to anything in other countries (for example, checking .au websites for interstate highway found only websites about the American Interstate Highway System), so it is unclear how the proposed title would "not take a sufficiently WP:WORLDWIDE view". The other English-speaking countries (England, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand) have regions, counties, provinces. Nigeria is another English-speaking country that has states, but I similarly found no evidence of usage of the term "interstate highway" to refer to anything but American roads. Non-English usage is not relevant to article titling policy. Katzrockso (talk) 03:44, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I know that plenty of other countries that divide their administrative districts into "states" do have roads that cross state lines. However, in the United States, "interstate highway" has been used to refer to highways that cross state lines long before the Interstate Highway System. For example, the Tennessee Department of Highways referred to highways on the United States Numbered Highway System as "interstate highways" prior to 1956 (and likely a few years afterwards; see this collection). But see my comment above about how people outside the United States might not know how to differentiate between a road that crosses state lines and a highway on the Interstate Highway System. Bneu2013 (talk) 04:27, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  Yes, they do have roads that cross state lines, but they do not use the term "interstate highway".

  You should direct your corrections at the reliable sources (including most legal codes) that do not capitalize "interstate highway" and inform them that people might not understand that the lowercased form refers to highways on the Interstate Highway System. Katzrockso (talk) 15:41, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

• Note that CookieMonster755 as well as SchreiberBike and myself have expressed support for Lists of highways in the Interstate Highway System. Katzrockso also provided some quotes at 05:22, 15 January 2026 (UTC) that could be interpreted as supporting that title. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 19:13, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

  I would support this alternative as it is compliant with the MOS and offers greater precision. Katzrockso (talk) 19:23, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

  What do you want to do with the state-specific lists, e.g. List of Interstate Highways in Massachusetts? Bruce leverett (talk) 20:24, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

  Analogously, that would be List of highways in Massachusetts in the Interstate Highway System. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 20:30, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

  Or, List of Massachusetts highways in the Interstate Highway System. To my eye that reads a little more smoothly. SchreiberBike | ⌨  21:09, 30 January 2026 (UTC)

  Yes, this is better. Bneu2013 (talk) 04:29, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  That's OK with me, but personally I don't think of I-90 as a Massachusetts highway, although it has a segment in Massachusetts. It's a federal highway, not a state highway, and Massachusetts is only one of many states it passes through. To me, a Massachusetts highway is a state highway. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 00:32, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

  Well, the Interstates are state highways. There are very few federal highways since the Interstate/US/state highways are owned and maintained by the states, not the federal government. I-90 in Massachusetts is owned by a state agency, not the federal government.

  That said, the second construction is clunkier than the former. The extra words make the first suggestion better, but both fail at being concise. The status quo handles the concision test better. Imzadi 1979 → 01:31, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

  But the capitalization in the current title is unjustified, and these would avoid that problem. People seem to sometimes prefer rephrasing over lowercasing – e.g., as in the recent three-article RM at Talk:List of historic members of the United States Marine Corps#Requested move 15 January 2026. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 01:45, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

  The status quo is a complete violation of MOS:CAPS. Katzrockso (talk) 20:15, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

  I would support this alternative too, although I think this should wait for a different discussion. Bneu2013 (talk) 04:28, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  Why? —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 04:37, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  Because it would complicate the topic of the current discussion. It's unclear if all the users who participated in this discussion would support it. Bneu2013 (talk) 20:18, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

  It is not at all unusual for an RM to end with moving an article to a different name than what was originally suggested. This has been extensively discussed and has been relisted specifically to consider the alternative title suggestion. People who have participated in the discussion already know the title is being discussed, and they might be more likely to miss a new discussion than the evolution and conclusion of this one. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 20:32, 31 January 2026 (UTC)

• Neutral on the first alternative compromise proposal ("List of highways in [state] in the Interstate Highway System") and oppose on the second ("List of [state] highways in the Interstate Highway System"). The titles appear more technically accurate, but only marginally more clear and somewhat less concise. In terms of natural sorting order (and I realize there is a sort key available) it's more relevantly a list of highway things than a list of [state] things; if we change it, parity with Category:Lists of roads in the United States would be desirable. TheFeds 03:07, 4 February 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.