To Do - Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA

If you would like to help out in mapping this region, contact me to coordinate our efforts.

Freeways

Major Highways

Minor Highways

Miscellaneous

Map editing guidelines

(or: Let's Just Do This Once)

Interstates/Major/Minor Highways

• eliminate unnecessary junctions: mid-segment, other than where the city changes, get rid of 'em.
• confirm lane directionality (note: one-way roads do not have center dividers)
• connectivity between highway segments
• road type is correct
• finalize geometry (remember to preserve Alt Names when changing geometry)
• naming: preserve TIGER base map naming as requested by Waze (common name, followed by US/State Hwy numbers and other aliases)

Ramps

• eliminate unnecessary junctions
• geometry matches aerials
• directions correct (note: one-way roads do not have center dividers)
• road type set to "ramps"
• street names should match existing signage; e.g.:
  • "Exit 20: Boston / Brighton / Cambridge"
  • "to I-90 W / Worcester"
• when a ramp segment has no sign of its own (e.g., after two ramps merge), borrow from the names of the "upstream" ramps, which should be similar if not identical
• check & correct all connectivity among ramps & roads--critical for proper routing

Helpful tip: if a ramp (or any other type of road) segment has no name, the client will display the next non-empty name in line. For example, suppose you have a two-way ramp segment. You can't name it as either an on- and off-ramp, because traffic (and navigation) will be using it for both. The solution is to leave the name blank, which will cause the names of adjoining segments to be displayed.

Over/underpasses

A simple road-level policy makes it easy to keep track of which road segments are involved in over/underpasses--an important thing to keep track of when a stretch of highway extends well beyond the current screen.

• Road level "0" is used only on road segments that have no over/underpasses. If a road segment has level "0", you know immediately that it does not cross over or under any other roads. Conversely, if a road segment has a non-zero level, you know that you will need to take a closer look at the map if you need to adjust levels (see below).

• When you reach an over/underpass, if both roads have level "0", give the upper road level "1" and the lower road level "-1". If one of the roads already has a non-zero level (i.e., it is already part of an over/underpass), leave that value alone and assign the other road a level accordingly.

• If both roads are already non-zero, and they are not in the correct order, you will have to add a junction to one of the roads to allow it to change levels between its previous over/underpass and the current one.

• If for some reason you decide to change a road's level, be sure to check the entire length of that segment to ensure that its new level will not cause problems at other over/underpasses.

Wiki editing info can be found here. Sounds scary but it's easy Just watch this short video.