Talk:Highway 401

Latest comment: 9 years ago by Floydian

I question the redirect page is appropriately linked to Ontario Highway 401 as a wp:primary topic. How many other highways are called 401? Many others, and so the designation would be better redirecting to List of highways numbered 401 instead. Any objections? 99.244.30.79 (talk) 22:44, 10 March 2015 (UTC)Reply

Yes, I do. Ontario Highway 401 receives an average of 350-400 hits per day,[1] while the dab page it provides a link to in a hatnote has gotten 89 hits in the last 30 days;[2] on days where serious incidents occur on the highway (i.e. beginning of this month[3]), the hitcount can exceed several thousand. Furthermore, only two of the routes listed at the dab page are actually "Highway 401" as opposed to "Route 401", both former designations. The current setup has remained stable for several years and best serves the readers based on the hitcounts. I won't get into the google hits as that is not fit to our guidelines and would just pile on more evidence. - Floydian τ ¢ 01:13, 12 March 2015 (UTC)Reply
I think that "Highway 401" should redirect to List of highways numbered 401 as the term can refer to countless other highways besides the roadway in Ontario. Someone could be typing "Highway 401" to search for U.S. Route 401 and would be directed to Ontario Highway 401 and then the dab page before reaching their intended destination. We can save on clicks for users by having this redirect to the dab page. Generally, "Route X" or "Highway X" should redirect to the dab page as readers searching for those terms can be directed to the dab page where they can find the highway they are looking for. Dough4872 03:44, 12 March 2015 (UTC)Reply
For the record, Highway 407 has the same issue in redirecting to Ontario Highway 407. Dough4872 05:29, 12 March 2015 (UTC)Reply
I can't argue as much for Highway 407, as the hitcounts likely support linking to the DAB page (only that other routes are still "Route 407" instead of "Highway 407")... However, are there any policy/guideline based arguments for the 401 redirect? - Floydian τ ¢ 23:20, 13 March 2015 (UTC)Reply