Garden State Parkway South to US HWY 9 S problem

Map Editors Community Update/Unlock Request
1

When exiting The Garden State Parkway South to get on US HWY 9 South, Waze wants to re-route back onto the Parkway South. I don’t want to get back on the Parkway South. I want to get on and stay on US HWY 9 S. Here’s what it’s doing: I highlighted the mentioned roadway in blue below:

https://www.waze.com/editor/?lon=-74.30983&lat=40.54346&zoom=5&layers=BFTFTTTFTTFTTTTTTTTTFT&segments=32287716,32276450,57796066,32278727,57783289,57783290,32271842,57801906,62148322,57690385,62392087,57690381,57690359,57690377

When I exit Garden State Parkway S I’m on the following road:

This is the properties for the road:

Country: United States
State: New Jersey
City: Fords
Street: to US-9 S / SR-440 S / to I-287 / The Amboys
Alt. names:
Road Type:
Direction:
Level:
Toll road
Locked
Length: 806 meters
Left house numbers: -
Right house numbers: -
Created By: robliao(0)
Updated By: WeeeZer14(4)
Update Time: Tue Feb 14 2012
ID: 57783290

I can’t make any changes because all the roadways that I want to edit are locked. This is an exit ramp from The Garden State Parkway South to US Hwy 9 S, SR-440 S and I-287. The problem is when I exit the Parkway with the intention of getting on US Hwy 9 S, Waze directs me to exit to SR-440 S. After I pass that exit, then Waze directs me to exit I-287 / The Amboys. After I pass that exit, this exit ramp joins US HWY 9 S (the road I want to be on). Here are the properties for this portion of US HWY 9 S:

Country: United States
State: New Jersey
City: Woodbridge
Street: US Hwy 9 S
Alt. names:
Road Type:
Direction:
Level:
Toll road
Locked
Length: 279 meters
Left house numbers: -
Right house numbers: -
Created By: robliao(0)
Updated By: WeeeZer14(4)
Update Time: Tue Feb 14 2012
ID: 57690385

When I am on US HWY 9 S, Waze directs me to exit Smith St:

Country: United States
State: New Jersey
City: Greater Woodbridge Area
Street: Exit to Smith St
Alt. names:
Road Type:
Direction:
Level:
Toll road
Locked
Length: 665 meters
Left house numbers: -
Right house numbers: -
Created By: prodriver(0)
Updated By: xollob(2)
Update Time: Mon Feb 27 2012
ID: 57690359

After I pass Smith St, Waze directs me to exit Chevalier Av Connect:

Country: United States
State: New Jersey
City: Sayreville
Street: Chevalier Av Connect
Alt. names:
Edit Address
Road Type:
Direction:
Level:
Toll road
Locked
Length: 35 meters
Left house numbers: -
Right house numbers: -
Created By: yalo75(0)
Updated By: PHWharton(0)
Update Time: Wed Jul 11 2012
ID: 32305045

After I pass this exit ramp Waze finally has me routed onto US HWY 9 S thence it has me routed correctly to my destination (home).

I don’t know how to fix this problem on the map editor since it is locked. If Waze area manager can fix it so I can be directed direct Parkway South to US HWY9 South.

Thank you.

2

When you are on the GSP what exit is Waze telling you to take? Is it telling you to use Exit 129 or something else?

3

It has me routed to get off the GSP @ exit 123. I prefer to get off @ exit 129 to avoid tolls on the GSP prior to exit 123. When I get off @ exit 129, Waze wants to put me back on the GSP which I don’t want.

In addition Waze does not remember this route (exit 129). I take this route 7 days a week.

Thanks!

4

Waze does not remember HOW you go from place to place. Waze only remembers WHERE you go and WHEN you tend to go there. Waze seems to advertise that it does the HOW, and it may have worked at one time, but for as long as I can remember (1 to 2 years easily) it doesn’t work that way.

I know the toll you are trying to avoid and I usually avoid it myself and jump onto 9 exactly as you do. But if you want to avoid the toll with Waze, you should use the “avoid toll roads” option in the Waze client under Settings -> Navigation.

If this is the ONLY toll plaza you are trying to avoid, there isn’t much you can do other than ignore Waze and hope for the best. Waze is always going to give you the fastest route and crossing the Raritan on the GSP is (usually) faster than jumping over to 9 before the river.

5

I started using Waze in July and did not have this problem until a couple of weeks ago. Now it is giving me erroneous directions on GSP N as I approach the Driscoll Bridge. I travel to Newark Airport daily via Rt 9 N to GSP N to Rt22 E. It wants me to exit GSP N to exit 127, Woodbridge / Staten Island / US-9 N / I-287 / SR-440. Why does it want to put me on this parallel bridge? I decided to do this to see what else it would do. After I passed 287/440 and Rt9, it told me to get back on GSP N.

Again this is a recent problem. It was not an issue a few months ago. It is only in the area of the Driscoll Bridge where Rt9 and the GSP parallel each other. Obviously I know how to get to and from work every day, but I enjoy having Waze for traffic reporting, police reports and other hazards.

I am doubtful if I can trust Waze for accurate and shorter directions in unfamiliar areas of travel. I’m having a hard time accepting the fact that I should just ignore Waze or turn on the avoid tolls option. I believe it’s a problem with the map or some other software problem with Waze.

Thanks for taking time to help me with this problem. I know Waze is not perfect and they are still trying to improve. I will try to be patient and hope it gets better.

Dave

6

Guys, this might be related to US-9 being all kinds of screwed up between the Edison Bridges and where it splits off SR-35 in South Amboy. I’ve taken a brief look at it, but it’s going to take a while to fix up that I haven’t had this week. The route finder algorithm consequently sees the Garden State Parkway as both the faster and simpler (less turns) way to go.

Even fixed up, however, the navigation algorithm is unlikely to tell you to use the earlier exit unless you tell it to avoid all tolls. This is because NJDOT describes US-9 in the area as a non-freeway major arterial, which translates in Waze to primary highway. Compare that the Garden State Parkway, which NJDOT describes as a freeway/toll-expressway, or freeway in Waze, the “fastest route” algorithm will tell you to stay on the Garden State Parkway until the latter exit. It’s a bummer, because I’ve done exactly what you described here many times to avoid the Raritan toll, as I’m sure every other locally savvy driver has, but unfortunately, these kinds of “back way” tricks are often beyond the capability of GPS navigation systems.

7

I agree with you 100%. Don’t sweat it if you don’t have the time to correct it. I turned on the avoid tolls option and that fixed the problem. I know GPS systems are not as sophisticated as us humans (at least most humans). As long as Waze doesn’t direct me onto railroad tracks or active runways at airports, I’ll deal with it.

8

Is this a case for changing the road type - real world use trumps DoT classification?

9

On the Waze map US-9 has both the Major Highway Type and the Freeway Type… and then continues as NJ-35 as a Minor Highway without a change in design.

NJ DOT Functional Classification Maps list GSP as Urban Freeway / Expressway and US-9 as Urban/Rural Principal Arterial… Using the translation matrix we have in CT GSP would be a Major Highway & US-9 would be a Minor Highway… HOWEVER, looking at US-9 on the map it could be considered a Major Highway - it is a combination of ramps & at grade intersections (but these do not allow for cross streets & most are typed ramp already. When US-9 continues as NJ-35, NJ DOT still types it as “Urban/Rural Principal Arterial”, but it is changes type again to Minor Highway in waze.

I only know two things for sure 1) US-9 shouldn’t be listed as a Freeway - Think I-95 & I-287 which is classed as “Rural/Urban Interstate” (not because it’s Interstate ##, but because it’s the primary road to use if you want to travel interstate). 2) US-9/NJ-35 should have one type consistently across it.

Source: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/roadway/gismaps/Middlesex.pdf

10

Yeah I noticed when first looking at this topic that someone had made some changes to US-9 after I had originally gone through it. It definitely shouldn’t be Freeway from NJ-35 to the Driscoll Bridge since there are businesses with driveways there. I’ll set it back to Major Highway. From the bridge north it is physically a Freeway, but we are probably better off at leaving it as Major for consistency of the route. I’ll take a look at it and at least start making changes now…

11

Thanks WeeZer14. I was wondering if you could help me with one other problem. After I exit the GSP at exit 129, Waze wants me to exit onto Smith St, which is at the foot of the Rt9 S bridge. I travel plans are to stay on Rt9 S to my destination in Freehold.

https://www.waze.com/editor/?lon=-74.29964&lat=40.51894&zoom=6&layers=BFTFTTTFTTFTTTTTTTTTFT&segments=57690359

Thanks!

12

The half broken editor slowed me down yesterday but I’ve started to clean up 9 between 35 and the river. If there is a issue in that stretch causing the problem, it should be fixed when I am done.

Any idea where Waze wants you to go once you are on Smith St?

EDIT: Nevermind, I can reproduce it on the Livemap. It wants you to get back onto the Parkway. I’ll see if I can find where it doesn’t like rt 9.

13

Wow, it really doesn’t like rt 9. I planned a trip from just past the Smith St exit and it actually wants me to go BACKWARDS on rt 9 S and turn left onto the exit ramp.

But yet a little further south, it gives two options - stay on 9 and jump on the pkwy. The time difference is about a wash or even slightly favors rt 9 (which makes sense) so it must be something wacky with the road segments.

Looks like the problem is where traffic comes onto rt 9 s from Smith St. Before that junction it is a problem, but after it all is fine. I’ll make sure to fix/rebuild that junction.

14

Okay, route 9 has basically been rebuilt from the Edison Bridge to the southern end of the NJ-35 overlap. I still have to triple check it and address road types, but by the next map update I hope this area will perform much better.

I split any part of rt 9 that wasn’t already split. There are zero left turns and GPS points do show a gap, so I think it easily meets the guidelines. It also reduces the number of junctions across the section since you only pass junctions for YOUR side of the road and not both sides.

Many of the ramps and side streets were re-worked. Most had RevCon. Some were outright wrong and added/modified by Waze staff and IGN.

I named many of the ramps in the GSP/9/440 spaghetti, but there are plenty more to still name that I will keep working on.

TL;DR - I’m not done, but the major issues should be addressed now.

15

Thanks WeeZer! Looking forward to the updates.

16

Million dollar question… are the Driscoll and Edison bridges even still there after Sandy? :wink:

17

Btw WeeZer, after.Smith St Waze wants me to go onto Convert Blvd to Victory Plaza to 9S. Not exactly a straight line. Do you know when the next map update will be?

18

That routing make sense in that it was avoiding the Edison Bridge.

Map updates are not on any fixed schedule. Sometimes they are every few days. Usually around once a week. Sometimes less than once a month. And when the update is made, it shows edits as of a few days before the go-live date.

Keep an eye on http://status.waze.com for updates to the NA map tiles. We’d want to see a change that included edits as of October 30th to know we have the new info.

19

Thanks. I have one more question. Since the the new southbound bridge was opened a few years ago, the name of that bridge (Rt 9S) is the Ellis S Vieser Memorial Bridge. I don’t know if you want to put that name in there for an alternate name. Rt 9N is still called the Edison Bridge. I got this information from Wikipedia…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_Bridge_(New_Jersey)

Rehabilitation

As part of a $48 million construction project, a major overhaul of the aging sixty-year old bridge was undertaken, to address issues relating to the advanced age of the structure and to bring it up to the latest highway standards. The rehabilitated northbound span of the bridge was opened on to traffic on October 21, 2003, and marked the long-awaited conversion of the old Route 9 Edison Bridge from a one-span, 4-lane structure with no shoulders to a two-span bridge with a total of six lanes with shoulders.[2]

On November 19, 2001, the southbound span was officially renamed “The Ellis S Vieser Memorial Bridge”, in a bill sponsored by Senator Joseph Kyrillos.[3]

Thanks again for all your help. Looking forward to the update.

Dave

20

We don’t yet know the official plans for the alternate names, so it may not be worth it. We could put a bridge landmark there though.