This page serves as the primary resource for editors of Delaware. 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.
Delaware editors use Discord for fast communication, guidance, and mentorship. Use of Discord will provide you with quick access to senior editors, unlocks, and help with editing. Please send a PM to Poncewattle to be invited into the group. Discord can be accessed via a web browser, desktop app, or as an app for your smartphone.
Introduction
Delaware is a part of the Northeast region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Before editing the maps in Delaware, 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.
Here are some examples of resources that we cannot use because of copyright restrictions. See Using external sources for a general discussion of the problem. You can contact the copyright holders, representing no-one but yourself, and asking them to create a copyright/license notice that would allow anyone to freely use the information without attribution. The Waze team is working to come up with an allowed list of online mapping resources.
Note: Sussex County map overlaps some surrounding areas, so it can be used for southern Kent County in some cases, since the Kent County map site is difficult to use.
Road Ownership Map:
Use this map to find out what roads are private roads. Basically all public roads are color coded so absence of any coloring on a road means it's private.
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 Delaware.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
New Delaware editors are welcome. We need you. Please review the New Editors Guide and contact other editors in chat before editing. Please feel free to reach out to other Delaware editors listed below for assistance if needed, either in chat or "PM" (private message) on the forums.
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).
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.
Delaware uses SR-## for all state routes (e.g. SR-58)
If the primary name is a street name and the road also has a US or state route (SR), add it to the alt name (e.g. Primary Name: Capitol Trl, Alternate Name1: SR-2, Alternate Name2: Kirkwood Hwy). If a divided road, also add the cardinal direction to the alt name. e.g. "SR-7 N" on the northbound side and "SR-7 S" on the southbound side. When using alt names, be sure to be consistent and avoid gaps in naming, as this can cause routing issues with detour prevention. If the road switches back and forth between divided and two-way you should add a simple SR-## Alt Name for the entire length as well to avoid detour prevention.
Generally, regarding state route numbers, even numbers run east-west and odd numbers run north-south
Some Delaware routes are continuations from other neighboring state routes. e.g., SR-273, SR-896, SR-299.
Locking standard
In Delaware 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.
Delaware Minimum Locking Rank Standard
Segment Type
Statewide
Freeway
5
Ramp
Highest rank of connected segments
Major Highway
3
Minor Highway
3
Primary Street
1 (Auto)
Street
1 (Auto)
Private Road
1 (Auto)
• • • • Ferry • • • •
5
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
2
Note: Do Not Mass Edit just to update locks to these standards, these can be adjusted as you find them while editing other aspects of the segments such as FC, speed limits, naming, etc.
Some segments still warrant higher locks and care should be taken when setting segment lock to these standards to look for and protect these special setups with higher locks. Some examples; segments which are part of BDP, U-turn prevention, or using micro-doglegs, or other complex intersection setups.
Speed Limits
Delaware follows the national guideline for speed limits, with a few exceptions listed below.
Delaware guidelines
When a speed limit changes at an intersection, the sign for the new speed zone can be found up to 200 feet after the intersection. Map the change at the junction if signs immediately after the junction on each side are different speed limits.
If the speed limit changes more than 200 feet from the intersection, add a junction at the sign and make the speed limit change there.
If opposing speed limit signs are opposite each other, attempt to make the change as close as possible to the actual speed limit signs but do not create a new segment if within 200 feet of a junction. When adding changing speed limits, choose the junction that is on the higher speed limit side. Basically if the change is going to happen slightly early or late, best to have a lower speed limit come earlier and a higher speed limit come later.
Long term work zone speed limits may be mapped instead of the "ordinary time" speed limits. If placing a work zone limit, use Livemap to place a UR there, note that it is a temporary speed limit, and add [CONSTRUCTION] somewhere in the comment.
If no speed limit sign is posted, the default speed limits in Delaware are
Residential or business district: 25 MPH
Two lane road: 50 MPH
Divided highway: 55 MPH
Town Speed Limits
Do not assume every housing development is 25 MPH. Some localities have lower limits. Below is a list of some of them:
Delaware (especially NCCo) is really bad about signing speed limits on many roads. So even though the law says an unsigned road is above values, outside or rural areas of the state, that is probably not the case. May need to infer some speed limits based on signage pretty far down the highway.
Summary of National Guidelines
Only map speeds found on regulatory white rectangular signs with black lettering.
Do not map advisory speed limits (generally an orange or amber rectangular sign with black lettering).
Where there are variable speed limits, map only the speed limit which is in effect most of the time during daylight hours (most hours of the day, days of the week).
Do not map special speed limits for special vehicles. Waze only supports speed limits for private passenger cars.
Delaware uses a real elevation method to set road elevations. This method sometimes requires the use of extra segments. This has the benefit of an enhanced look in the Live Map, and, more importantly, makes it easier to close a bridge or tunnel without affecting traffic to nearby homes and businesses.
Functional Classification Reference Chart
Use this chart to determine the road type for Delaware roads based on the functional class.
First, find the functional class of the road and determine if it is a signed, numbered highway in one of the highway systems.
^a Since Delaware combines these two classes, use the criteria from the Freeway page to determine if the road should typed as a freeway or major highway.
Special roads
Drivable roads
Delaware follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.
Alleys should always be mapped if they have a name.
Alleys should always be mapped if they are the sole access to a home or business.
Alleys should always be set to "Private"
Alleys are normally mapped if they are acknowledged by the municipality.
If an alley does not meet the above criteria, mapping is optional. Leave the name field blank.
Non-Drivable Roads
Generally, if a path can't be driven on (e.g. Walking Trail, Pedestrian Boardwalk, Stairway, Railroad, Runway/Taxiway) then it not normally mapped. If it is mapped, it should not be connected to any roads. This is due to the way the routing engine works, as Waze will route users to drive on these "Non-Drivable" road types.
It is permitted to map Railroads since some users run Waze while on the train and contributing false data to the system. This false data has been known to effect drivers on adjacent roads. Railroads should be level -5 and locked at the highest level of the editor.
Time Restricted Turns
There is beta testing for setting Time Based Restricted turns in WME. Watch for announcements in the forum on this feature
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 Federal Highway Administration keeps a website indexing all states that can provide highway and construction project information. Go to the page, find your state, and check the links for the desired information.
Places
Delaware 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.
Editors are encouraged to use the Place Harmonizer script "WMEPH" when editing places, this will help you follow state + national standards. Use caution with the automatic options and be aware of what it is changing.
Any editor may edit any place in their EA. If it is locked above their rank a PUR will be generated for a senior editor to review and approve.
Delaware locking standards for places differ in some ways from the US standard:
Locking Standard
Once you have correctly filled in as as much information as is available, Places should be locked to a minimum level of Rank 2. This prevents "trusted Wazers" who are not editors from automatically adding photos to places.
These areas below are more sensitive + important to Wazers and should be locked higher, reach out to a senior editor if needed for assistance in locking new places:
Lock at 3:
College / University
Courthouse
Government
Jail / Prison / Correctional Facility
Military
Parking Lot
Lock at 4:
EV Charging Station
Fire Department
Gas station
Hospital / Urgent Care
Park
Police Station
Lock at 5:
Airport
Address
Fill out address information completely, this is not used for navigation, it is informational-only but is important for the Waze user.
For the City field, consider what the business uses on their website and what will make the most sense to the Waze user. You can use the city name from a nearby road, or use an other local city or CDP name that WME offers as an auto-complete.
R4+ editors, do NOT create a "new" city name, check with a State Manager if you feel none of the names is sufficient since creating a "new" City makes that available to other editors for roads too.
Naming Fire Departments
Fire Departments exist as agencies and can have identifiers such as stations or equipment. When naming a fire department, use the following format:
Name - Identifier (if applicable)
Examples: Lewes Fire Department - Engine 3 & Ladder 1
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.
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 Delaware.
Only Red Light Cameras are legal in the State of Delaware. More information can be found on the IIHS website for DE and other states.
Red Light Cameras
There is an ongoing discussion regarding all the red light cameras in DE in the Waze forums. Please post any needed updates/changed to red light cameras there, so local AMs and other editors can make appropriate changes.
NOTE: It is important to check the DIRECTIONALITY of ALL red light cameras. In many (most) cases, the red light camera is only monitoring one direction of traffic. An example of intersection where this is the case can be found at US-40 and SR-896.
Other Camera Types
These are cameras or signs that either provide driver feedback or are used for traffic control. These devices CAN NOT issue tickets and should not be mapped.
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.
Add postal city name to alternate street name on streets outside of incorporated areas and remove primary name for segments outside of incorporated areas. See wiki page for more information on this.
Always needed: Handle URs (update requests)
Area Managers
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in Delaware. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers Delaware, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Delaware, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for Delaware 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.
Delaware — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
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.
