Temporary road closure

[OutdoorDad]

It could be from weather - like when a section of road is impassible due to water on the road or downed tree crossing both lanes - but it could also be from festival closures, parades, protests, police action, etc. These are not construction events but still temporary full closures which will make you change your course... best to avoid with advanced warning by others ahead.

[CBenson]

Idealy there should be some way for the waze routing algorthm to take into account reported closures so that routes will no be generated through them. Currently, I suspect that waze sometimes intreprets a closed road as not backed up (as many of the surrounding routes are when there is an incident that closes a road) and thus can actually prefer to route on the closed road. This can be a significant problem.

I'm not really in favor of adding a whole bunch of reporting options. But absent a method for reporting a temporary road closure that the routing algorithm would take into account, I would like to see a entire new category of "Road Closed" with its own icon for display on the map. I see tons of police reports, accident reports and hazard reports where the incident doesn't actually slow the traffic significantly. Even when the reported incident does slow the traffic, I trust waze to reroute me. The police reports, accident reports and hazard reports that I really want to stand out are those that are reporting road closures.

[OutdoorDad]

This weekend, this one put me into a rerouting loop waze couldn't reoute me out of. It kept looping me back to the same intersection. I had to turn it off and pull out a physical map to get around the flooded areas.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

That sucks terribly. Did Waze only show one route under the alternate routes?

[mmouse]

Waze keeps routing me onto a freeway onramp that is closed for construction each night for the next several months, and I keep getting caught.

Also, at this very moment, the CHP has closed a section of I-5 south due to an accident, yet there's no way for me to warn everyone.

In thinking about adding this as a reporting feature — keep in mind that it may require a user to adjust the location of the closure, and not just report wherever you are when you tap the button, since closures often require quick maneuvering to get around, so there are no hands for reporting, and even if there is time, you can't get on the closed part of the road (obviously).

[gettingthere]

It is unlikely that Waze will allow road closures to be activated via the application. Too much room for people screwing around. You think that ping and chit chat is annoying? Hate to remove hundreds or thousands of speed, red light, and dummy cameras that were misreported in the application (many from the exact location of a home where Wazers were obviously playing around)?

Imagine being routed 60 minutes out of the Waze because someone thought it was cute to close a road. No thanks.

[gettingthere]

Also, at this very moment, the CHP has closed a section of I-5 south due to an accident, yet there's no way for me to warn everyone.

Report it as an accident. Put some details such as "6:00pm, I-5 S closed at Exit 123 due to accident".

A Wazer who is paying attention and looking at the reports will have a chance to detour. In addition, as traffic builds and Wazers get stuck, other Wazers will likely be routed a faster way automatically.

[CBenson]

It is unlikely that Waze will allow road closures to be activated via the application. Too much room for people screwing around. You think that ping and chit chat is annoying? Hate to remove hundreds or thousands of speed, red light, and dummy cameras that were misreported in the application (many from the exact location of a home where Wazers were obviously playing around)?

Imagine being routed 60 minutes out of the Waze because someone thought it was cute to close a road. No thanks.

Seems pretty easy for waze to verify if a road is closed or not. If there is traffic on the road disregard the report of the closure. Of all the ways to mess up waze, this has got to be one of the easiest ones for waze to deal with.

[coldblaze]

I agree that some solution is required. There were several large highways and local roads closed in my area for a bike race through the city. Waze was next to useless at that point, as it kept trying to direct me back to the various closed exits and roads.

I am sure you could aleviate potential Waze issues by allowing someone to designate a road is closed and having several people, or a location admin approve the report. Say, once 10 people agree, or a local area admin approve it, then it will be in effect for a particular time.

Having the ability to set roads as accessible during parts of the day are also a good idea. For example, certain HOV lanes are only accessible in a specific direction at particular times of day, and are permanent. These types of settings could easily have some sort of Waze admin approval and will fix the overal issue.

[AndyPoms]

I agree that some solution is required. There were several large highways and local roads closed in my area for a bike race through the city. Waze was next to useless at that point, as it kept trying to direct me back to the various closed exits and roads.

I am sure you could aleviate potential Waze issues by allowing someone to designate a road is closed and having several people, or a location admin approve the report. Say, once 10 people agree, or a local area admin approve it, then it will be in effect for a particular time.

Having the ability to set roads as accessible during parts of the day are also a good idea. For example, certain HOV lanes are only accessible in a specific direction at particular times of day, and are permanent. These types of settings could easily have some sort of Waze admin approval and will fix the overal issue.

Check out THIS thread about what Waze was able to do about temporary closures around the Boston Marathon... There is some official Waze comment in it...