Minnesota/Major roads/Main

Functional Class

You will hear the phrase Functional Class or FC a lot when it comes to the standard for road types. According to the US Federal Highway Administration, The concept of functional classification defines the role that a particular roadway segment plays in serving the flow of traffic through the network. Waze has its own interpretation of this system, but it utilizes the state's functional class map to help determine the road type to use.

Check out our Mapping Resources for knowledge on how to use the state's map system to find Functional Classifications Standards in Minnesota. From that knowledge, use this chart to determine how the road should be classified using the Waze Standard. Minnesota follows this chart completely aside from dirt or gravel roads in rural areas. This exception will be changed as soon as an unpaved road option exists in Waze.

If you have any questions about Functional Class, please use our Community Resourses to reach out to gain further information.

Below is a list of the six major road types. If you click on the button of the road type, for instance  Freeway , you will be directed to a Wiki section that discusses the road type further.

Freeway

A  Freeway  is the highest functional class of road. It is designed for higher speeds and limited to entrance and exits ramps being the only way to enter or exit this type of road.

Any road with the Functional Class (FC) as Principal Arterial Interstate, colored blue on the FC map, will be considered a Freeway. All Interstate Roads Will be freeways aside from Business Loops and Spurs (Which instead will be a Major Highway). Also, watch for some roads that are Principal Arterial - Other or Other Freeways (colored red or orange) as they could fit the profile of a Freeway. All roads that have to be entered or exited using a ramp, where 3 or more consecutive exits occur, needs to be set as a freeway.

A Freeway will end at first direct connection of a road to the highway.

Naming

1. Freeways will usually only be named the Highway number of the most prominent highway of the section. For instance, If a highway is a State Highway connected with a US highway, then it will be named the US highway.
2. If two of the same type connect such as a US highway and another US highway, then the road that stayed on course will be the named highway.
3. All highway numbering will be as follows: Interstate: I-XXX, US Highway: US-XXX, Minnesota State Highway: MN-XXX, County Highway: CH-XXX. Notice that there are no spaces between the dashes. The only exception to using the Highway Number would be if there is clear signage that the freeway is known by another name.

Ramps

A  Ramp  will connect two roads together; however, it will not be used for a simple At-grade connector or in other words a road that doesn't have a different elevation level. There are some exceptions to this rule to understand.

Naming

Even veteran editors need to pay attention here! Naming of an entrance and exit ramp correctly is crucial to the users of this app when being navigated around. If the name of the entrance ramp is incorrect it will confuse the experience and may confuse the driver to take the exit absurdly or miss it all together. Please follow these rules:

1. Only time to ever type in the word "Exit" in the ramp is when the exit is a numbered exit. The only roads that have numbered exits are exits off an Interstate with the exception of US-52.
2. For all Numbered exits, it will start with "Exit XX:" For example, if the Exit is number 114A then you will start the exit name as "Exit 114A:" and there will always be a colon after the exit number
3. For non-numbered exits, just start the exit as such, "to" For example, if the exit was to US Highway 169 Northbound, then the exit would be "to US-169 N"
4. All numbered highways need to be typed as such: Interstate: I-XXX, US Highway: US-XXX, Minnesota State Highway: MN-XXX, County Highway: CH-XXX, County Road: CR-XX all with no spaces between the Highway type and the number.
5. Include as much information in the sign as possible. For example, If the actual sign shows it will take you to County Highway 1 Eastbound and it also takes you to Riverview Rd and Old Shakopee Rd, then the ramp needs to be labeled: "to CH-1 E / Riverview Rd / Old Shakopee Rd" using the slash "/" to separate the different roads to take. Try to match the sign as close as possible.
6. If a road splits showing arrow marking under lanes to of which to stay on to continue your course, use ramps for each side. For example: in Burnsville, a person taking I-35 N will have the decision to take I-35W N or I-35E N. The I-35W side is a numbered exit, the other side is just a guided direction to head towards I-35E N. The one side is labeled: "Exit 88A: I-35W / Minneapolis" and the other side is just labeled: "to I-35E / St. Paul". Using ramps here will guide the driver to the right side of the highway.
7. For road splits that have 3 or more splits, usually paying attention to the one that splits first will guide you to how to set it up correctly, but it is often best to reach out for support to find the best solution based on the more complexity of an issue.

Major Highway

A  Major Highway  is a primary route for traveling throughout the country, from one city to another, over long distances.

Any road with the Functional Class (FC) as Principal Arterial - Other (Freeways), colored red or orange on the FC map, will be a Major Highway (MH) if these roads do not fit the standard definition of a Freeway. All US Highways (Such as US-169) will be labeled as a Major Highway regardless of what the FC map shows unless it can be labeled as a freeway.

Naming

1. Naming of a major highway typically will be in the road number standard: US Highway: US-XXX, Minnesota State Highway: MN-XXX, County Highway: CH-XXX, County Road: CR-XXX; however, pay close attention to the way the signage really is in these areas.
2. In town, these highways need to be named as the street names used for house numbering.
3. Out of town, should be labeled the same as the street name for house numbering if looking at a 2 lane highway
4. and the Highway number for split direction Major highways unless signage clearly indicates it is known by another name

Minor Highway

A  Minor Highway  is a secondary route for traveling between cities over moderately long distances.

Any road with the Functional Class (FC) as Minor Arterial, colored as green on the FC map. will be a Minor Highway (mH). Also, all State Highways (such as MN-13) will be set at a minimum of a minor highway regardless of the current FC classification from the State of Minnesota unless it is a higher classification or could be considered a freeway.

Naming

1. Naming of a minor highway typically will be in the road number standard: Minnesota State Highway: MN-XXX, County Highway: CH-XXX, County Road: CR-XXX; however, pay close attention to the way the signage really is in these areas.
2. In a town or city, the naming will typically be the street name unless the name of the street is Co Hwy XX where we would change it to CH-XX
3. Pay close attention to the name assigned for house numbering. If house numbering suggests using the wording, "State Highway XXX", we need to set an alt name as such.

When to Use CR- or CH-

County roads in Minnesota typically hold one of two designations: County Road (CR) or County Highway (CH). Officially, each of these designations carries its own shield design, as shown below:

• County Road (CR) - square white sign with black lettering including the words "County" or "[County Name] County." Labeled as "County Road" in FC maps and expressed as a number inside a diamond shape.
• County Highway (CH) - pentagonal blue sign with white or yellow lettering. Labeled as "County State Aid Highway" on FC maps and expressed as a number inside a circle.

While counties typically contain roads with both designations, many will only use one road sign design in reality. For example, Carver County roads are primarily designated as CSAH, but all county roads use the same black & white design above.

For consistency of driver experience, we defer to street view or other visual confirmation (BOTG) to determine how to name these segments on the map. So, in the Carver County example, we'd label all roads as CR-xx regardless of underlying technical designation.

County Road Shield Reference

Use the map to the left as a reference when determining which county utilizes which sign design. Grey counties may be written as "CR-XX" on the map regardless of designation, while blue may all be named as "CH-xx."

In cases where a county uses both, refer to SV or the MNDOT FC Maps to differentiate CR- from CH- using the description above as a guideline.

As always, ask your SM for guidance should you have questions or suggested updates.

Primary Street

A  Primary Street  is a road used with medium-low traffic densities which are used to bring traffic from local streets to arterials and vice versa

Any road with the Functional Class (FC) a Major or Minor Collector, County Road, County Highway, or Reservation Highway will be a Primary Street (PS) or higher. Pay attention to county road as these will have a minimum of a Primary Street. Most frontage roads will have this category as well even if the FC map shows a lower level (but reach out for clarification for the ones that are not a county road).

Street

A  Street  will be for any road in a town or city that doesn't fit in the categories above. In rural areas, this will be lightly used for paved roads that cannot be considered a County Road (a rarity in the rural areas). This will be named the same name used for house numbering.

Proper Naming for Rural Routes

A number of rural counties in the state have adopted new or additional names for emergency response / 911 (sometimes called "e911") purposes. This may include the introduction of cardinal directions to County Road names - "CR-42 NE" vs "CR-42" for example. It may also include the addition of numbered (Ordinal) street names or other alternates for signed CR/CH.

In a majority of cases, this update has not been applied to actual signage, GIS, FC maps or any other official source. In order to maintain consistency on the map display as well as an accurate experience for drivers, please maintain the following naming standard for rural CR/CH outside city limits:

• Primary segment: "CR-42, [no city]"
• Alt: "CR-42 NE, Mailing City"
• Alt: "360th St NE, Mailing City"
• Segments should be set to PS or higher, per the notes above.

Inside city limits, feel free to use the primary common name as signed (e.g. 360th St NE). If you have questions or feel a need to make an exception, please consult your AM/ SM before making any major updates.

As noted in Cities & Towns above, do not use 'Twp', 'Township,' or 'Greater xxx Area' in any city names or alternates.

Quick reference chart

Refer to this chart to determine the road type of a given paved public road based on the functional class.

To use this chart, first determine the functional class of a road, and whether it is a signed, numbered highway in a particular highway system.

Where the column for the road's highway system and the row for the road's functional class meet, you will find the proper road type for that particular road.

A number of examples are given below the chart.

Always consult an Area or State Manager if you are unsure of what class to give a road.

		Highway Systems
		Interstate	Interstate Business Loop/Spur	US Hwy (incl. some special routes)	US Hwy BUS, SPUR, LOOP	State Hwy (incl. some special routes)	State Hwy BUS, SPUR, LOOP	County Routes	Locally-maintained
	example	I-35 N	I-94 Business	US-61	US-2 Business	MN-23	MN-371 Business	CR-15	Robertson St
F u n c t i o n a l C l a s s	Interstate	Fw	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Other Freeways & Expressways	n/a	Fw	Fw	Fw	Fw	Fw	Major	n/a
	Other Principal Arterial	n/a	Major	Major	Major	Major	Major	Major	Major
	Minor Arterial	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	Minor	Minor	Minor
	Major Collector	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	PS	PS	PS
	Minor Collector	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	PS	PS	PS
	Local/not mapped	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	PS	PS	Street

^a When a state highway "SPUR" route is used to connect a state highway with another state highway, a US highway, or an Interstate (i.e., when it is used as a connector/CONN route), use the first state highway column.

^b Also known as Principal Arterial - Interstate.

^c Also known as Principal Arterial - Freeway.

^d Also known as Principal Arterial - Expressway.

^e Also known as Principal Arterial.

^f Also known as Other Arterial.

^g Could also be  Major Highway 

For example,

• An Interstate Business Loop classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Major Highway .
• A US Highway classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Major Highway .
• A US Highway Spur route classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Minor Highway .
• A State Highway classified as an Other Freeway is a  Freeway .
• A State Highway classified as a Collector is a  Minor Highway .
• A County Route classified as a Minor Arterial is a  Minor Highway .
• A County Route classified as a Collector is a  Primary Street 
• A locally-maintained road classified as an Other Principal Arterial is a  Major Highway .
• A locally-maintained road classified as a Collector is a  Primary Street .

Legend

Fw	Freeway
Major	Major Highway
Minor	Minor Highway
PS	Primary Street
Street	Street

Locking standard

In Minnesota, we observe a minimum standard for locking roads based on segment type. Any road of a certain segment type must be locked at least to the rank listed in the chart below. Roads may be locked higher for protection and special situations (construction, confusing design, frequent mistakes, image inaccuracies, etc.), but should not be locked lower.

Minnesota Minimum Locking Ranks

Segment Type	Rank
HOT & Express Lanes	5
Freeway	4
Ramp	4
HOV Bypass Ramps	4
Major Highway	3
Minor Highway	3
Primary Street	2
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|	2
All Others	1

Although common practice is to limit editing freeways to rank 5 or higher, we have determined that the experience required to reach editing rank 4 is sufficient to gain the privilege of editing freeway segments.

Note: Before locking these roads to these standards, you must verify that the name of the road, direction of the road, and turn functionality is correct. If this information is not correct, it should not be locked unless we are having issues with editors in the area. The only exception here is Freeways due to the routing priority. Refer to Unlock Requests if you need a section of road altered or unlocked to correct an issue.