UR states that reporter was travelling from 419 Spence Lane, Nashville, TN to 150 3rd Ave S, Nashville, TN and was told to turn RIGHT on Lebanon Rd from Spence Ln when the route should have turned LEFT.
When I check the route in WME I get routed left but the directional arrow shows a right (image attached).
Thank you, I can confirm that route checker is no longer showing improper guidance. I’ve closed the UR with advisement that it was likely a temporary issue.
I see reports of these types of issues quite often. Many times the user is told to turn right, do a u-turn and proceed back through the intersection in the correct direction. Another common variation is to take the user straight through the intersection, u-turn, then turn right. I’ve even had one report of someone who was told to turn right at an intersection, u-turn, then turn right again to continue in the direction they were already going. Fortunately, they didn’t follow the advice. And yes, I did verify that all the directions were properly set at the intersections.
Guidance from my AM in these cases has been that based on user data, Waze will sometimes determine it is quicker to go through the intersection and u-turn rather than wait at the light. I also tell users “as with any other GPS program or device, please use your best judgement before following its advice” (or something to that effect).
According to the threads I’ve started or replied to, that is actually a “feature” of the Waze routing algorithm. Right now if Waze calculates it can save 30 seconds (which is far too short given the timing of some lights) it will suggest a routing around the intersection.
If you run across a UR that has Waze doing that, permalink to it, then start a thread in the routing forum. I think if we can get enough feedback to the Waze staff that drivers are taking issue with, and ignoring routing like this, maybe they’ll raise the time threshold to something that won’t cause it to try to avoid an intersection unless you’re saving 90 seconds or more.
At one point I was trying to gather all the examples in this thread. Waze did just state that they are looking into the recent feedback that we have been providing about the short detour mechanism (that is sending users on routes that may seem like a mistake, which I believe includes right/U and straight/U routes). They say they don’t need new examples currently. So we seem to have made the point that these routes continue to be an issue.