Nevada/Major roads/Main

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:

• Nevada Functional Class Graphical Maps
  • For historical purposes only you can Click here for archive version as of July 3, 2014. Do not use this as a reference for setting FC on roads in WME.

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.