This page serves as the primary resource for editors of Maine. 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.
If you edit in Maine, please make sure you add yourself to the table below.
Introduction
Maine is a part of the New England region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Before editing the maps in Maine, 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.
The Maine Department of Transportation maintains a GIS map of all principle roads in the state. This map should be treated as the definitive source for all Federal Functional Classification of roads and, therefore, of their Waze road type. MaineDOT does not uniformly map roads that are not subject to state or federal funding, which detail should be developed from town maps, satellite imagery, and user reports.
The Maine Office of Geographic Information Systems also maintains a parcel-level GIS map. This latter mapped is helpfully linked from the WME GIS script.
Maine has also assembled all the tax maps of every organized town and the unorganized areas into two .KML files for use with Google Earth and GIS Shapefiles:
The level of detail in these files varies from town to town, but often includes street addresses.
The Maine Cities and Towns page links to known town-specific mapping resources, including where available GIS maps, tax maps, and tax commitment books. Please add to that page when you find a new resource.
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 Maine.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
There is a Discord Channel for Maine editors. This is primary and official communications link. Feel free to ask for an invitation from the RC or any Maine State SM listed below.
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).
We have assembled a list of all current Cities/Towns in Maine. Please do not deviate from this list by adding or subtracting Cities/Towns without first discussing it in the Maine Forum.
Numbered US Highways shall be named as: US-###
Numbered State Highways shall be named as: SR-###
Locking roads
In Maine 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.
Maine Minimum Locking Rank Standard
Segment Type
Statewide
Freeway
5
Ramp
Highest rank of connected segments
Major Highway
4
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.
Functional Classification of Roads
Functional Classification (FC) updates to Maine's highways are complete, as of Jan, 2016.
Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.
Dirt road / 4x4 Trail in Maine should be used only for poor-quality dirt roads. Maintained, graded gravel roads should be classified as Street (or higher, as dictated by the roadway's Functional Class) and flagged as unpaved using the "Dirt Road / 4x4 Trail" checkbox in WME.
Driveway parallel to a non-accessible segmentInaccessible segment at rear of property
Long driveways may be mapped as Private Road when needed for correct navigation. For example, when a house is closest to a segment that does not access the property, then a driveway is appropriately drawn to allow correct navigation to that property. A Residential Point Place should be added for that property as well. If that driveway, in turn, now is the closest access to a neighbor, another driveway may be needed. To avoid this proliferation of driveways, it is best to avoid adding them altogether if correct navigation would occur without any of them. In the two examples shown, this test is met. In the first example, a road parallels the driveway; in the second example, a road cuts across the back of the properties. In both cases, the PVT segments are needed to avoid routing along these other segments.
Roads that are technically private (i.e. not maintained by the municipality) should not be marked as Private Roads unless they meet the national standards for a Private Road (e.g. gated). If a private segment is needed to enforce a "no through traffic" restriction, please consult with a state manager or other senior editor first.
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.
Maine DOT provides real-time closure and incident information at the Maine 511 site. This information is also available at New England 511.
Places
Maine 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.
Minimum Acceptable Information
All Places added to the map must contain the following entries:
Proper Category
Place Name
Address (including address numbers)
Placed in the correct location on the map
This is the minimum acceptable amount of information for inclusion on the map unless the location intrinsically does not have an address (e.g. a beach).
Phone Numbers
If a phone number is entered in the Place information, please utilize the following formats:
(###) ###-####
Please correct the layout of any phone numbers you encounter while editing.
Locking Standard
Maine Place Lock Level Standards
PLACE TYPE
LOCK LEVEL
Military Installation / Airport
4
Hospitals / Urgent Care / Police & Fire Dept
4
National & State Parks and Monuments
4
Gas Stations / Charging Stations
3
Schools / Universities / Colleges
3
Government Buildings
3
Passenger Rail Stations
3
City and Local Parks
2
All Places that have complete information (to include, at a minimum, address/city, hours of operation, phone number) are to be locked at Level 2 (unless the place intrinsically does not have an address, e.g. a beach). This is to prevent loss of data due to automatic acceptance of Place Update submissions from Trusted Users, or Place Update Request approvals from other editors without careful examination.
If you do not have a high enough enough rank to lock the place as indicated, please lock it as high as you can, and notify a higher rank AM, SM, CM, or Champ to lock it higher.
Place Name Harmonization
In an effort to standardize Place Names, Maine uses the following list of Common names. Please note the appropriate category name, as well as the listed spelling. This is necessary for the proper display of any advertising associated with the site (i.e. SUBWAY discounts). The script WME Placename Harmonizer simplifies this work.
Name: Boat Launch – {Water Body Name} – (location if needed) For example,
Boat Launch - Aroostook River - Lower Lyndon St
Category: Seaport/Marina/Harbor
Description:
Access Type – Boating, Fishing, Boating/Fishing
Boat Size – Small, Medium, Large, Carry-on
Ramp Type – Gravel, Concrete, Concrete Plank
(If a launch has a fee, or any restrictions, include the details in the description)
External providers – Link to boat access if available
Lock: 2
Create a corresponding PLA
Name: Parking – Boat Launch – Water Body Name
Area Places
Area MappingWhen creating an Area, map it to the "fence line" of the area.
For instance, if you are mapping a shopping center, this means that you map the area to cover the shopping center buildings, and the parking lots out to the outer ring road (if applicable). If there is no ring road, or for smaller shopping centers, map to the curb line.
If you are mapping a school, you would map out to the fence line (if visible) or to a reasonable distance from the school. Contact a AM, SM, CM, or Champ for assistance.
Hospitals / Urgent Care
Hospital MappingA special Category of Hospital / Medical Center is used for Hospitals, Medical Centers and Urgent Care facilities. ONLY Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, and places offering Urgent Medical Care should use this category. Clinics, and Medical offices which do not offer urgent medical care for Walk-Ins should use the Office, and any other appropriate category, instead.
Set the Stop Point over the Main Entrance to the facility. Additionally, map the Emergency Entrance with the same category name, but place it over the Emergency entrance location. ERs encompassed in a hospital Place Area should be Points, and named in the following fashion: E.R. - Hospital Name
Layered Areas
Places which are part of a larger encompassing place (i.e. place points for lot in a university area, Separate ER entrances in a hospital area, etc.) should be named with their unique name followed by a hyphen and the name of the larger area they belong to. For example "E.R. - Generic Medical Center"
Parking Lots
The Parking Lot Place marks a well-defined area constructed for off-street public parking, including parking structures and garages as well as at-grade lots. There are many elements that must be considered before deciding to map a parking lot. Currently, the details are covered in Places/Parking lot.
Unless you have permission from the State Manager, please only map the following types of parking lots:
Public parking lots (Indicate that they are public lots in the description)
Named lots around an arena/theater/venue (advise SM when you do these)
Park and Ride lots/structures
Gas Station
Gas Stations
You should familiarize yourself with the Gas Stations wiki - specifically naming, branding, and stop points.
Also understand, that to provide the best navigation instructions for a Wazer, u-turns should be enabled at each end of the PLR drawn through the gas station.
You will often encounter "orphaned gas stations" that were imported from a master database in 2013. These are small area places, usually in the middle of a road somewhere without a full address. Here's one in Verona Island:
Orphaned Gas Station
If at all possible, DO NOT DELETE these orphans, because these are linked (invisibly) to the mechanism that updates gas prices. Instead, figure out where the gas station actually is located and drag the orphan (and its stop point) to the correct location. WME limits how far Places can be moved, so you may need to move the Place a few hundred yards then save; repeat as necessary. If there is already a Place for the gas station in its proper location, copy over the information into the orphan and delete the other. Then complete all the info for the Place and lock to L3.
Cemeteries
Those with historical significance or useful as navigation aid can be mapped. Cemeteries with no identifying information (usually from base map import) should either be deleted or additional information added. Internal roads should be mapped using the Parking Lot Road type if roads are warranted.
Bodies of Water
Not mapped. All rivers, lakes, bays, etc. are mapped in the non-editable Water layer of Waze.
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 Maine.
Neither Red Light or Speed Cameras are legal in the state of Maine, please delete all you come across.
There are camera devices in use in the state, these are for traffic monitoring and data gathering. They are not used for ticketing purposes.
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.
Current projects for Maine:
Speed Limits on mH and PS. The ME DOT map includes SL data, but I strongly urge you to verify and locate SL changes using SV (particularly on PS, where the ME DOT map is inconsistent). Please drop PS locks to Auto(1) as you work on them.
Parking lot conformance. All Parking Lot Areas should be reviewed and upgraded per the new U.S. PLA standards. Do NOT add new PLAs until that guidance changes nationally.
Place cleanup. Lots of very incomplete Places; should conform to WMEPH guidance.
Base map upgrades. Many towns (mostly rural) are still base map garbage off the main roads. Work here is particularly challenging because of the "camp roads" running down to lakefront cottages and such. This requires balancing of info from the state mapping resources, existing map, and judgment.
Town map links. Add links to the Cities/Towns page.
Other
Speed Limits
Speed Limit Regulations
Except when conditions or other regulations require a lower speed, the following are maximum rates of speed in Maine, especially if signs are not posted:
15 mph in a school zone at specific times of the day, (Do NOT mark these school zone SLs on the Waze map.)
25 mph in a business or residential area or built up portion, unless otherwise posted.
45 mph on all other public ways, unless otherwise posted.
Other speed limits are common, both higher and lower than the 25/45 defaults:
50 or 55 mph is common on numbered routes that are well engineered, carry substantial traffic, or are remote.
60, 65, 70 and 75 mph are found only on Maine's Freeway segments
35 mph is common on smaller rural roads
30 and 35 mph are often found on main commercial roads even in built-up portions
Speed Limit Resources
The Maine DOT GIS Public Map Viewer is an excellent starting point. Every segment has a speed limit, visible by clicking the segment, which brings up the Road Information panel. In that panel, the Speed Limit Source will either be "Posted" or "Default." Do NOT use any Default values; speed limits for segments with only a Default value must be verified from a primary source (e.g. StreetView or reliable SL UR). Speed limits with a "Posted" source are generally accurate; wherever possible, validate the speed limit with Street View. In particular, please use SV to validate the precise location of SL transitions, as the DOT map is often off by a hundred yards or more.
When StreetView and the Maine DOT map disagree, editors must make a judgment call. Take into account the age of the StreetView imagery.
Speed Limit User Reports (SL URs)
With their introduction in Summer 2016, SL URs became the most common UR in Maine. Here are some guidelines to responding:
For a SL UR on a road with no marked SL, do the research (with the Maine DOT map and StreetView) to properly set the SL on the road, using the UR information if sources are unclear. If the SL you researched matches the SL UR, thank the reporter and close the UR as Solved. If the reported SL is inconsistent with your research, ask the reporter to clarify.
It is acceptable to close a SL UR immediately (with an explanatory note) when the report SL:
Matches the marked SL (with an allowance for lags in the app)
Is inconsistent with your personal knowledge
Is grossly inconsistent with any plausible SL (e.g. reporting 65 mph in a town center)
Is on a Freeway with well-known SLs (FW speed limits do not change often, and then very publicly)
In other situations, check SV and/or the Maine DOT map to see if the report is credible. If so, make the appropriate changes, thank the reporter, and close the UR as Solved. Otherwise, ask the reporter to clarify.
Area Managers
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in Maine. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers Maine, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Maine, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for Maine 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.
Maine — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
Northern Somerset Cty (and adjacent parts of Quebec)
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.
