Detroit Signage Discrepancies
A discrepancy was noted by an editor here a few months ago between some of the Waze suffixes and the local signage in the city of Detroit.
Many of the streets of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park have "official" names and suffixes that some drivers would be unfamiliar with or confused by for a few reasons:
1) Local (non-MDOT) signs do not display a suffix for streets. This even goes for names with well known suffixes such as Woodward (Ave), Grand (Blvd), etc. Even property and tax information omits suffixes for most roads.
2) TIGER (and as a result major providers such as Melissa Data, Google Maps, WAZE, etc. that used it for a base map) tends to utilize "St" for most of the minor roads in Detroit. The city zoning docs and MDOT display "Ave" for a number of them. These latter ones would be technically correct but not always in common parlance.
3) MDOT uses a numeral on the Mile roads (i.e. "7 Mile") where the city spells it out (i.e. "Seven Mile") on signage.
If you only ever drove freeway, you would likely be comfortable with the "official" suffixes used on the MDOT signage for exits and overpasses. You would be comfortable with MDOT's "7 Mile" as opposed to the city's "Seven Mile", and "Holbrook Ave" instead of every mapping providers' "Holbrook St". If you only ever drove at the city level, you would likely have a different view. So, is there a systematic way to approach this that would satisfy both drivers and editors while minimizing URs about suffixes, and in the case of the Mile roads, the name itself? For minor roads, I don't think most drivers would notice, but when we start talking about major roads, we could have some serious debate (Lahser Rd versus Lahser Ave anyone?).
In this first post, I'm just trying to describe the situation and not present any solutions. Feedback welcome, and hopefully we can come to a consensus that will leave everyone less confused.
Here are some examples:
7 Mile Rd versus Seven Mile Rd (with "Nevada Ave" thrown in too instead of Nevada St!)
Finkell Ave and Schoolcraft Ave versus Finkell St and Schoolcraft St (switches from Rd at Southfield Fwy according to the highest authority in the mind of the average driver: Google Maps)
Many of the streets of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park have "official" names and suffixes that some drivers would be unfamiliar with or confused by for a few reasons:
1) Local (non-MDOT) signs do not display a suffix for streets. This even goes for names with well known suffixes such as Woodward (Ave), Grand (Blvd), etc. Even property and tax information omits suffixes for most roads.
2) TIGER (and as a result major providers such as Melissa Data, Google Maps, WAZE, etc. that used it for a base map) tends to utilize "St" for most of the minor roads in Detroit. The city zoning docs and MDOT display "Ave" for a number of them. These latter ones would be technically correct but not always in common parlance.
3) MDOT uses a numeral on the Mile roads (i.e. "7 Mile") where the city spells it out (i.e. "Seven Mile") on signage.
If you only ever drove freeway, you would likely be comfortable with the "official" suffixes used on the MDOT signage for exits and overpasses. You would be comfortable with MDOT's "7 Mile" as opposed to the city's "Seven Mile", and "Holbrook Ave" instead of every mapping providers' "Holbrook St". If you only ever drove at the city level, you would likely have a different view. So, is there a systematic way to approach this that would satisfy both drivers and editors while minimizing URs about suffixes, and in the case of the Mile roads, the name itself? For minor roads, I don't think most drivers would notice, but when we start talking about major roads, we could have some serious debate (Lahser Rd versus Lahser Ave anyone?).
In this first post, I'm just trying to describe the situation and not present any solutions. Feedback welcome, and hopefully we can come to a consensus that will leave everyone less confused.
Here are some examples:
7 Mile Rd versus Seven Mile Rd (with "Nevada Ave" thrown in too instead of Nevada St!)
Finkell Ave and Schoolcraft Ave versus Finkell St and Schoolcraft St (switches from Rd at Southfield Fwy according to the highest authority in the mind of the average driver: Google Maps)
Re: Detroit Signage Discrepancies