I’d be grateful if a UK Editor could review routing through Donnington (Gloucestershire), GL56 0XZ, UK.
The road through the village is a single-lane B road with no pavements or safe pedestrian refuge, running between the A429 and A424. It is increasingly being used as a through route to avoid congestion on the main roads.
There is official “Village Only” signage in place, but satnav routing (including Waze) still appears to direct vehicles through the village.
This has effectively turned the road into a rat-run, with traffic volumes and speeds that raise clear safety concerns and are not appropriate for the road’s layout.
I would be grateful if routing could be reviewed to see whether it can better reflect the signage and local conditions.
Hi, Waze will use public roads for routes and adjust for potential traffic and time savings when deciding whether to route people along roads like this. Please can you point out where the official signage is? I can’t see any legal restrictions that are relevant for Waze on the street view images from April 2025.
Thanks. I can see it on the destination signage but this is not a legal restriction so we will be unable to map it in Waze. Due to the road types in the area it is unlikely heavy traffic will be directed that way unless they are travelling from the Broadwell area, or if there is a closure.
If you think the access-only restriction should apply to all vehicles instead of only vehicles over 7.5t I would recommend getting in touch with the local council.
I understand that the “Village Only” signage isn’t a legal restriction in the same way as a formal access or weight limit. However, the intent of the signage is clearly to discourage through traffic from using this route, as it passes through a small residential village with narrow roads that aren’t suitable for increased traffic volumes.
In practice, routing vehicles through Donnington—particularly as a shortcut between the A429 and surrounding roads— is increasing traffic beyond what the road network was designed to handle. While it may not be a legal restriction, it is a locally managed traffic measure intended to protect the village environment.
Would it be possible to consider any mitigation within Waze’s routing logic (for example, deprioritising the route or reviewing road classification), even if a full restriction can’t be applied?
The road through the village is already at the lowest classification (Street) and cannot be deprioritised any further. I have done some routing simulations and the only way I could get a route through Donnington at all is if I started the route in Broadwell, the nearby village. All other routes stay on the A-roads because they yield a faster route.
Thanks again for taking the time to test the routing.
From what we’re seeing on the ground, the issue arises on a daily basis due to congestion on the A426—particularly around the traffic lights in Stow-on-the-Wold. When queues build, drivers regularly divert via Donnington to avoid the tailbacks, and we see a noticeable increase in vehicles turning off the A429 into the village. There is also a consistent flow coming from Broadwell, suggesting it’s being used more widely as a cut-through.
The impact locally is more than just traffic volume. The village road is narrow with no pavements, so pedestrians—including elderly residents and children—have to walk in the road. The route is also part of the Monarch’s Way walking route, so we regularly have walkers from outside the area. Increased volumes of faster-moving through traffic are making this very unsafe.
I appreciate that the road is already at the lowest classification and that Waze will prefer A-roads under normal conditions, but congestion on the main roads is a daily occurrence, and this re-routing appears to happen consistently as a result.
On behalf of the residents of Donnington, we would really appreciate it if any measures could be considered to reduce through-traffic being routed through the village.
I understand that the road classification cannot be reduced further. However, I note that Waze supports routing preferences such as “Unfavoured.” Given the daily congestion on surrounding roads and the resulting through-traffic, would it be possible to review whether this route could be set to “Unfavoured” to better reflect its suitability and the intent of the “Village Only” signage?