How to indicate a private road in the US

[leight...@gmail.com]

New US MM user interested in how to edit a named road to indicate that it is private.  

There are posts indicating that there have been changes in some regions to the drop-down choices under "Road Priority" to include "Private" but this option does not currently appear in the US version I have been using.

Our California county has lots of named roads that show up on Google Maps that are over private property and are clearly posted as not open to the public.  Many of our neighbors have intercepted trespassers who cite Google Maps as the reason they chose the route. It is an important safety, privacy and liability issue to let people know where published roads are not open to the public.  

[Andres]

Hi,

You're right, there have been a few changes to the naming of road priorities and the new names aren't always immediately obvious. For private roads like the ones you describe, you may want to use Terminal road in the priority dropdown, though I would imagine the moderator will want some information supporting your change. As a sidenote, you can always hover over the label Priority (or any other, for that matter) when editing and a small question mark icon will be displayed which upon clicking will reveal the definitions for the different options in the dropdowns. Here they are:

No auto traffic: No automobile traffic is permitted; pedestrians may be allowed

Terminal Road: Does not support any level of public transportation; only for vehicles with privileges

Local road: Usually carries small volumes of traffic; low speed limits

Minor artery: Shorter road that facilitates traffic flow to/from major roads

Major artery: Any moderate or high-capacity road in an urban area

Regional highway: Important urban and inter-regional route; not big enough to be a national highway

National highway: Connects all the states/provinces and important cities/territories of the country

Expressway: Road with limited number of intersections along the way

Freeway: High-quality road, mostly accessible using ramps (no traffic lights), supports high speed traffic

Selecting the right priority helps generate the best route for directions on maps. Locally, people use freeways, motorways, expressways, and highways interchangeably in different regions and countries. Use the definitions above as a reference while selecting this field. Signboards on the road, number of lanes, speed allowed, length and/or width of the road can be used to gauge the right priority. Learn more

Hope that helps.

[Robert Coon]

Andres,

I recently opened another discussion thread about this topic here <link> (I apologize for the topic duplication, I overlooked this thread). To summarize, somehow private driveways are being marked.

While I could be wrong, I doubt that many persons would approve of having the driveway to their residence marked (even if labeled Unnamed and marked Terminal, regardless of the definition of "Terminal").

Also, the definition of Terminal given in the Help and through the question mark is slightly different from the tool tip in that the help definition implies there is a point of interest at the end of the road, whereas the definition you cited specifies "vehicles with privileges." Using this most restrictive definition could possibly be acceptable, except for the issues OP mentions.

I'd like to see this resolved, because there a huge number of private drives in my area that have been marked.

Bob

[leight...@gmail.com]

Andres

Bob has a point that is important and has some urgency.  Trespassers citing Google Maps are a growing phenomenon in our county and they are getting into dangerous terrain. 

"Terminal Road" definitions are not consistent in MM and it is unclear how this designation is used in Directions algorithms.

Editors and map users need a road option that is completely clear about the "vehicles with privileges" or otherwise indicating that the road is not open to the public in any way.  It is odd to have to indicate "No Auto Traffic"  (or to select "Trail" as recommended by one reviewer) on a road that the owner and others with priveleges traverse routinely in their vehicles.   It is also too hard (and error prone) to have to indicate separately that autos and bicycle traffic are not allowed.  Furthermore, there is no place to indicate that pedestrian traffic is also prohibited.