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This page serves as the primary resource for editors of Nevada. Review all the sections to better understand how the guidelines for this state might deviate from the overall USA or worldwide guidelines. If you have any comments or questions about this page or state refer to the community links below.

No general message at this time.


Introduction

Nevada is a part of the Southwest region, which includes the states and/or territories of:

Arizona / California / Colorado / Hawaii / Nevada / New Mexico / Utah.


Mapping resources

Before editing the maps in Nevada, be sure to fully review and understand the editing manual.

The Waze user community follows the Waze etiquette guidelines discussed in the Wiki. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these guiding principals while editing the maps and this Wiki, as well as when communicating with other Waze users.

County GIS Sources

Counties of Nevada
Google has deprecated a technology called NPAPI in Chrome 42, and plans to drop it entirely at some point. This technology is required to run plugins like Silverlight, Java and others. Firefox has also reduced support for NPAPI as of 30. Many of the links below will require you to allow these plugins to run, by way of a popup in your browser. Some of the sites below use Silverlight, and will be affected by this change.

The purpose for including county Assessor Offices which do not have online GIS Street Address data at the time of their inclusion here is to show that they were looked into, and not merely overlooked. It also provides a placeholder for those counties against the day when they might add such services at a future date. If you're looking for information on a county which shows not having GIS data online in the above list, you are encouraged to click on that link and look through what that office has to offer. If the location has added GIS services, its entry in the above list can be corrected to reflect that.

Other Resources (non-Street Address)

  • Nevada 511 Online - Road construction and other information in Nevada (interactive map)
Within the NV DOT website are also official city maps which may assist assigning street names when the GIS from the County doesn't exist.

At the present time Waze is not mapping MVUM roads less than roads listed below:

OK TO MAP - Roads open to highway legal vehicles only

Roads open to all vehicles (licensed and unlicensed)

  1. NOT MAPPED -Trails open to vehicles 50 inches or less in width (ATV, motorcycle, etc.), and
  2. NOT MAPPED - Trails open to all (full size) vehicles (trails may be rugged and narrow- intended for jeeps)
  3. NOT MAPPED - Trails open to motorcycles only (single track).


Community

The Waze forum is a great place to find answers to previously asked questions and also a place to ask new ones. Below are links to the forums specific to Nevada.

Area Managers for Nevada can be found in the table below.

New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.

Other Nevada Community Resources

Discord (online chat)

Nevada used to use Google Hangouts for state-oriented chat, but has now transitioned to Discord for such conversations. Please join the Waze Southwest Region server and use the #nevada channel for Nevada editing chat. Using Google Hangouts for chatting has been depreciated, and the Hangout itself may be discontinued at some point in the future.


Cities and towns

One of the most common errors when editing the maps is when an editor creates a road and does not confirm the road by setting the city and road name (or stating it has none).

Duplicate cities can be caused by incorrectly named segments and should be corrected following the guidelines in the duplicate cities article.


Some states and territories manage a separate page on cities and towns to identify the specific city names that should be entered, and no others. For states that do not have a separate page to track the names, see this Wikipedia link and find the state or territory in question.


Major roads

Nevada follows the general road naming and road type guidelines of the USA.

While there has been a little bit of confusion regarding the road types based on common sense. If you read the wiki, Nevada uses the DOT guidelines for the purpose of navigation routing and not based on the given name of the road. Nevada has a lot of graded gravel roads which are technically considered primary roads within WME. Before changing a road type to anything less than that which is assigned in the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) functional classification check with an Area Manager, State Manager, Regional Coordinator, or Country Manager within the Nevada Forum.

Local naming variations

Nevada uses NV-##, and NV-##X for all state routes and their spurs, loops, etc. (e.g. NV-89, NV-17M). When working on an area, if you encounter a road with the old SR-## naming, please take the time to change that name to reflect the NV-## name. This includes alternate names, if you notice them.

It should be noted that while we use the NV-xxx road designation for better clarity for drivers using Waze, NDOT does not use it. When you are verifying a state route/highway number against an official source, you'll see "SR-89" instead of "NV-89", for example. This is ok, don't let that cause you concern. Just go ahead and use the NV-xxx designation (using the official route/highway number) when setting/correcting a state route number.

Functional Classifications

Nevada is following the Functional Classification (FC) system for the USA.

The following resource can help to determine the FC for some of the roads in Nevada:

Lock Levels

In Nevada we have a set minimum standard for locking roads based on segment type. Any road of a certain segment type must be locked at least to the rank (level) in the chart below. Roads may be locked higher for protection and special situations (areas with construction, tricky design, frequent mistakes, imaging inaccuracies, and the like), but should not be locked lower.

A great time to implement these locks is while bringing the road types of an area into compliance with the current US road type standards (FC and highway systems). Lock the roads based on type after they've been set to current US road type standards.

Nevada Minimum Locking Rank Standard
Segment Type Urban Areas  Rural Areas
 Freeway  5 4
 Ramp  Highest Rank of Connected Segments
 Major Highway  3
 Minor Highway  2
 Primary Street  2
 Street  Automatic (1)
 Private Road  Automatic (1)
 Parking Lot Road  Automatic (1)
 • • • • Ferry • • • •   5
 |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|  2

Regarding "Highest Rank of Connected Segments" -- There are rare occasions where a Ramp type segment may be warranted to connect to/from something other than a freeway segment. HRCS means to set the lock level of the Ramp segment to whichever the highest locked segment is that it connects to.

NOTE: Streets directly involved in the Las Vegas Strip area should be minimum locked at one rank (level) higher than the above minimums, to protect that vital traffic corridor.

Please note that the above lock levels are subject to change, should situations warrant. Be sure to check here for current lock level criteria if unsure.

U-turns

This is interim guidance for Nevada, until such time as National standards are agreed upon.

U-turns on *two-way* Primary Street through Major Highway type roads may be enabled in either of the following two circumstances:

  1. The U-turn is _explicitly_ allowed by signage; or
  2. The U-turn is otherwise legal and safe, and there is at least 10.1 m (33 feet) from the left edge of the departure lane to the "destination" curb. This can include any median that may exist to the left of the departure lane. (The measurement is intended to accommodate the turning radius of most passenger vehicles.)

It should be noted that in Nevada per the NRS, U-Turns are legal where safe and not expressly prohibited by a sign indicating "NO U-Turn" (or the typical U-Turn arrow with a red circle and slash over it). Even if there is a sign at a signal which shows a left turn arrow and the word "ONLY" under it, as long as there is not also a sign indicating no U-Turn permitted, then it is allowed as long as it is safe. See #2 above regarding minimum size to be considered.

NOTE: During various times of the day in a school zone, U-Turns are prohibited by Nevada law, even if there isn't a sign present. Other than the standard "half hour before schools starts operation" until "half hour after school completes operation," there's also a stipulation of "when children are present" that doesn't mention anything about during school hours. It could possibly be interpreted as meaning even on a weekend/holiday if there are children walking along the street, so it's best to simply not mark a U-Turn possibility as enabled inside of a school zone area.

Do NOT make a point of enabling all U-turns valid under this guidance, only as you encounter them and they are necessary. Do not enable U-turns on Street type roads.

Parking Lot Road (PLR) types are a special case - to further help with navigation for cars leaving a parking lot, the ends of PLR segments should have U-Turns enabled at both ends in most cases where the parking is straight in going both ways. If the actual parking spaces are at a diagonal to the actual lane, do not enable U-Turns. Don't turn this into a big project, but if you're working on PLRs in a given parking lot anyway, following these guidelines will help move things in that direction since someone won't have to go back and add U-Turns later.

This guidance could change in the future.

At-Grade Connectors (AGCs)

Nevada is following the AGC guidelines for the USA. The following information is provided here for further clarification as to how right turns are handled when an AGC is present:

  1. As a general rule, we do not mark a right turn at an intersection green if there is an AGC ahead of it that provides for the right turn; the turn to the AGC is marked green and the turn at the intersection is marked red, even if there is no sign or other indication that the turn is prohibited.
  2. In certain situations, it might be allowed to do both; most commonly, if there is an actual dedicated right-turn lane at the intersection (with markings on the road or signage designating it as a right-turn lane), we will mark that with a green arrow in addition to the green arrow at the AGC on the approach to it.

If unsure, please check with the state manager or regional coordinator before setting/changing turn permission at the intersection.


Special roads

Drivable roads

Nevada follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.

Non-drivable roads

Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.

Note about private installations

As noted above, Nevada follows the overall guidelines used for the rest of the country.


Closures

When managing a section of roadway under construction or being closed for a major event, follow the Wiki guidelines on construction zones and Real time closures.

The following resources can help provide information on construction projects and road closures in the state:

An interactive map showing road conditions and other information throughout the state, including closed roads


Places

Nevada follows the USA standard for Places. Do not deviate from the guidelines without first obtaining consensus to do so via the state forum linked on this page.

When adding a new place in WME, or approving a new place or a place update request (PUR), please be sure to do the following:

  • Take the time to research all information regarding the place. Name, address, business website if they have one, phone number, etc. Check the appropriate "Services Offered" types.
  • Take the time to edit the road if you have access, and make sure that the street address for the business is also on that road (Edit House Numbers) and positioned at or as near as possible to the place location.
  • Make sure any pictures submitted are usable. Even though elsewhere in the main Wiki it says (or said) that pictures with faces or license plates are not acceptable, it has been stated by Champs such as AlanOfTheBerg that those items are not of concern in the USA. So don't discount a picture simply because those things are present. Use your common sense. Examples of some types of pictures that are unusable (and should thus be rejected) are:
    • The inside of the business, or so close to the front door that you have to be at the front door to see it. The idea is to show it from far enough away that it gives an approaching driver an idea of what to look for.
    • Close-up of drive-through menu. Pretty much same reason as above.
    • Upside down, blurry, rainy, fogged out, phone mount or part of car mostly blocking the view.
    • A shot that is clearly just a "Selfie" of the person taking the picture of him/herself in front of the place being added/updated.
    • Nudity/obscenity, or otherwise inappropriate.

Finally, once the place has been added/updated, lock it at a minimum of rank (level) 2 for most types of places. Doing this helps protect against future picture updates being simply accepted from "trusted updaters." When a Waze user has submitted enough accepted pictures/updates, he/she becomes "trusted" by the system and will no longer be flagged for review in WME when they make a new submission or update. Since most drivers aren't also editors, they will always be considered Rank 1 by the system. So, by locking the place at R2, any update submission to an existing place by such a "trusted updater" will still end up flagged for review by an editor.

Critical places such as airports, fire/police stations, jails/prisons, hospital/ER/urgent care locations should be locked at a minimum rank (level) of 4. They can be locked at a higher rank if circumstances warrant it. If you are an editor who is adding a new place of these types (approving a new place and bringing all information current, etc.), and you are lower than rank 4, lock the place to the highest level that matches your rank, and ask in the Discord server (see the Community section above for how to join if you don't already have access) in the #nevada channel if there's an editor at least rank 4 who can edit in the location, and ask them to lock the place for you. If you can't reach anyone that way, send a PM via the forum to one of the State Managers with a link to the location, and they will take care of the lock for you.


Cameras

Not every camera-looking device at an intersection is a speed or red light camera. Generally speaking:

  • a speed camera takes a photograph of a vehicle when it passes by the camera at too high a speed.
  • a red light camera takes a photograph of a vehicle that enters an intersection after the light is red. In some areas, it takes the photograph when a vehicle is not clear of the intersection some period after the light turns red.

Be sure to know your cameras before accepting new camera reports.

When adding a camera, be sure to review the camera placement recommendations.

Laws regarding speed and red light cameras vary between the states and territories, so be sure to understand the details of camera legality in Nevada.

No Red Light or Speed Cameras In Nevada

Per NRS 484A.600, speed and red light cameras are illegal in Nevada, except under special conditions. They can be hand-held by an officer or mounted to a patrol car or police building, but they cannot be placed as fixed or unattended mobile installations on the road or at signal lights.

A number of drivers are unaware of this, and often mistake traffic control cameras for red light or speed cameras, and will add them via the app. Just delete those cameras. If the person who reported the camera has taken the time to set up a forum account, you can contact them via PM to inform them of the deletion and to point them to this page.

There is a loophole in the law which allows private entities such as Home Owners' Associations (HOAs) to place speed cameras on private property. However, as those do not have an impact on the public as a whole, they are not added to the Waze map at this time.


To do list

Many states and territories keep an active list of pending or closed actions that need to be done in the state by the editors. All editors are welcome to contribute to the list of activities.


This state does not currently have an active "to do" list at this time. Check in the Nevada section of the Waze forums to discuss creating one.


Area Managers

The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in Nevada. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers Nevada, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Nevada, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.

The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for Nevada is automatically listed at the top of the table. That editor may not be highly active in this state and therefore may not be listed separately in the table.

Nevada — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
Regional Coordinator(s):
[RC] ottonomy (PM [Help])  
[ARC1] jemay (PM [Help])  
[ARC2] tonestertm (PM [Help])  
[ARC3] turbomkt (PM [Help])  
Username Area Managed Comments
Country Managers (Southwest region)
(Add to or edit Country and State sections of table)
jemay(6) [PM [Help]]  Available statewide
California resident familiar with Nevada
kentsmith9(6) [PM [Help]]  Available statewide
Longtime visitor of Las Vegas, Reno, South Lake Tahoe from CA
the1who(6) [PM [Help]]  Available statewide, mostly concentrates on Las Vegas
Las Vegas resident, A/RC Emeritus
Dmcrandall(5) [PM [Help]] 
  David
Mostly Inactive
US Country Mgr - AZ Resident
TheChrisK(6) [PM [Help]]  Countrywide
NWR ARC
Based in Omaha, NE
State Managers (Southwest region)
SuperDave1426(5) [PM [Help]]  Statewide / Country Manager
Resident of state
Area Managers
(Add to or edit this section)
AndroidBC(4) [PM [Help]]  Las Vegas
Resident, frequent travel to LA
dbwiddis(4) [PM [Help]]  Southern NV/Las Vegas
Resident
tykxboy(4) [PM [Help]]  Las Vegas/Los Angeles
Resident & Certified GIS Professional
geopgeop(3) [PM [Help]] 
  Geoffrey Perez
Statewide, local to Las Vegas
Resident, originally from SF Bay Area
s2k2vidguy(3) [PM [Help]] 
S
  s2k2vidguy
Southern Nevada/Las Vegas
Resident, frequent travel to Reno
Japoro(4) [PM [Help]]  Northern Nevada/Reno/Tahoe
Resident


The following editors are also editing in the state and may be working towards an Area Manager position. Feel free to contact them for assistance in their respective areas.

Other Area Editors (Add to or edit this section)
Username General Editing Area Comments
mariocrossing1(2) [PM [Help]] 
  Kevin Wong
Las Vegas Resident


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