So, Alt Interstate routes have been being added to exit ramps in Indianapolis. The alt shields are not listed on any BGS. Therefore they are in violation of the national Wiki guidance that says:
and
(Drive through Indy and tell me how many of these alt shield designations you actually noticed when you last drove through the city)
The only defense for this that I have received is:
“I THINK”??? Seriously? Furthermore, isn’t that why people use GPS? Because they aren’t familiar with the area - why are we giving them information that they’re most likely not even going to see? Also, isn’t that the point of using Waze in the first place - to “avoid traffic jams and such”? The program tells you to follow a sign and you follow it, and we, as editors, try to make the process simple.
It also causes situations like this:
I’m pretty sure I-65 S is only on the left… oh wait, there was a pre-ramp sign a half mile ago :roll:
OR:
Just today I took this exit and heard “to Shadeland Ave / I-70 W Alt Ramp”. What? The ramp should be named “to Shadeland Ave” period. Why don’t we just go ahead and name it “to Shadeland Ave / This is also a ramp for the I-70 W Alt sign that you didn’t see since you were trying to pick the correct lane a quarter mile ago when the exit had 4 lanes to choose from for 3 different signs, which was already confusing since my first instruction only said to take ‘Exit 44: I-70’”
Can someone please tell me that I’m not in left field thinking this is a bad practice and we should not be bypassing national guidelines? Either that, or I need a consensus of my peers to tell me to back down.
Agreed this should be reviewed. I recall traveling thru there and between reconstruction and reconfiguration, the numerous CD ramps/merges might not reflect current usage. Complicating this is that SV source of BGS info (if not local editors) and aerial imagery might not reflect current reality.
INDOT places signs along all interstates at major interchanges where another roadway can serve as an alternate route should the interstate be closed. It’s a typical interstate shield sign on white background with a small sign below with arrows and a small sign above that says Alternate in black writing on a orange background. The idea originally started a few years ago when Hyperfix, Super 70, and the 59 day closure of I-65/70 shut down the interstates through Downtown Indianapolis. The signs are placed at each interstates’ interchange with I-465, and on I-465 itself. The experimental program became permanent and you can find the signs on all interstates across the state at interchanges at major interchanges.
When US-31 was closed between 136th & Old Meridian Streets in Carmel I-465 & Keystone Parkway were obliterated with signage that denoted US-31 N/S Alt
I have to agree with KB on this one. Waze at the ground floor is designed to find the best alternate routes for you. If it happens to coincided with construction alt routes, or even signed alt routes, great. The alternate route signage is secondary to the main purpose of that route. So only the main exit information needs to be on the ramp name. Not every other possible destination of that ramp.
Wouldn’t adding them be like adding all the blue info sign data too? Exit now to Denny’s, IHOP and Mobil gas? If the BGS right before the exit actually has Alt I-43 on it, then include it.
And for clarity in the Exit 123 example picture above, note that the solid white is occurring under the sign. That means the “keep” instruction for I-65 S actually (should have) occurred prior to this sign. Exit 123 is a stand-alone instruction and probably is not the BGS controlling decision point. This has tripped me up as well. I have seen a number of ramps on the interstates in the GLR with the decision-node point not lining up very well with start of solid-white/hashed-white road markings. I have even committed a few of them myself This can be an artifact of when the ramps were adjusted from earlier times and/or when reconfiguration has resulted in more of a CD configuration. For the nice reporters that call out when waze ramp info doesn’t match exit BGS, this is also one of the things I always check.
Yes, we see these alt signs all over the state. But, per national guidelines they should not be added to the ramp names unless they are also listed on the BGS directly before the exit. If we start listing temporarily alt routes or every possible name for the exit on the signs a mile (or two) previous to the exit it will only increase the workload on the few editors that work in the state. I really don’t see any reason to deviate from the national standard on this since waze will automatically reroute you anyway if the primary route is congested. Adding alt XXX to the ramp name will only add complexity to the ramp name and will not change the way the waze routing algorithm will work.
I rest my case on the "alt"designation being permanent fixtures and will fix all the errors I created. However I have posted a new topic for discussion on this when it comes to during active construction projects when an interstate or Major Highway is shut down for construction… on here https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=943&t=107411&p=1018943#p1018943
I’ll have to revisit the issue with Interstate 465 at Exit 44. URs were popping up about being routed off and then back on. At that time tried to remove the city name from the ramps there and it didn’t work because of a bug or something to that extent…The work around for the time being was to add I-70 W Alt… I never got back solving that one yet…Now that bugs have been worked out in the system I will try removing the city names again and see what happens.
That’s also the exit that I keep setting UR’s at - which I don’t have a better solution for (yet). I have one in mind, I just need to look at it again on the editor and drive through going to Dayton (which I should be next week)
Also, have you used the custom scripts in Validator at all? It will make it really easy to see all the places that “Alt” is in a segment name.
This can be an artifact of when the ramps were adjusted from earlier times and/or when reconfiguration has resulted in more of a CD configuration. For the nice reporters that call out when waze ramp info doesn’t match exit BGS, this is also one of the things I always check.