This page serves as the primary resource for editors of Kentucky. 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.
December 2015: Speed Limits are now editable in Waze Map Editor. Please take care to correctly fill in as much Speed Limit data as you can accurately. If you are unsure, leave it blank until you can confirm.
Introduction
Kentucky is a part of the South Atlantic region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Before editing the maps in Kentucky, 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 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 Kentucky.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
The South Atlantic region is currently using Discord to communicate with other editors in our region. If you would like to join us, please click here. Once you are logged in, you'll find Kentucky editors in #kentucky. We look forward to editing with you!
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).
Kentucky follows the policy of only mapping incorporated cities in Waze. To view the current official list of Active Kentucky Cities, visit the Secretary of State website. Click Kentucky Cities: Active then Search.
The cities and towns in Kentucky are maintained in a Google Spreadsheet to track progress by the Kentucky AM's. Both City and Functional Classification data is in the spreadsheet.
10 Feb 2015 - Kentucky will now use KY-xxx for Numbered State Highways. See the To-Do List for more information on converting these roads.
An exception currently to the USA Roads standard is Kentucky state highways. Kentucky has numbered state highways from Controlled Access Freeways down to Alleys. Because of this Kentucky strictly uses Functional Classification to set road types for state roads and below.
US Highways and Interstates will continue to follow Waze standards.
Functional Classification
According to the Kentucky Department of Transportation, Functional Classification is described as the following.
Functional classification groups streets and highways into classes or systems according to the character of service they are intended to provide. This classification recognizes that individual roads and streets do not serve travel independently. Rather, travel involves movement through a network of inter-related roads and streets. Because a highway network is limited and restrictive, the movement must be channeled through an efficient, hierarchical system of facilities that progress from a lower classification handling short, locally oriented trips to a higher classification as the trips become longer and connect regional and inter-regional traffic generators. The level of service provided by, and function performed by, each facility within this hierarchical system determines its functional classification
The easiest resource to use for Functional Classification data in Kentucky is the Kentucky Functional Classification site. You can also get to this information via the Kentucky Active Highway Plan site. If you go via the Highway Plan, to show Functional Class information, go to the Legend tab, click the arrow next to System, then check the box for Functional Class. Also be sure to uncheck the "Active Highway Plan" in the Legend.
Another way to check FC on the Active Highway Plan map is to click on the Road Info button in the menu bar, which changes your mouse cursor to cross hairs, then click on the road you want information for. This brings up a Road Information box. Functional Class and Functional Class Value will be listed. You can also do this while using the Functional Classification map to get more information about he road.
The chart below is available to relate KYTC Functional Classification to Waze Road Types.
Kentucky currently observes the following South Atlantic Region minimum lock levels for Waze road types:
Freeway - 5 Major Highway (MH) - 4 Minor Highway (mH) - 3 Primary Street (PS) - 2
The Ramp road type is to be locked at the level of road it serves.
i.e. a ramp connected to a Freeway is locked at 5, a ramp serving a Major Highway, multi-level intersection is locked at 4, etc.
Street All others - 1
Note: These are minimums and, for protection, certain segments may be at higher lock levels. Locks should be applied after the segments are correct. Remember you are putting your name on it, make sure it is correct.
Name Normalization
Kentucky will use the following standards for naming:
Interstates - I-xx
US Highways - US-xx
State Highways - KY-xxx
County Highways - CR-xxx (Only if they have no other name)
Special roads
Drivable roads
Kentucky follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.
Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.
Guidelines that vary by state or territory
The following special roads are managed slightly uniquely in some states and territories. This state uses the following standard guidelines found in the Wiki.
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.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet posts road closures and road reports to the Kentucky 511 page.
An Update Request (UR) is a Map Issue reported by a user from the Waze client app. It is also a layer in the Map Editor. See update requests for more information.
Team UR Handling
In Kentucky, we generally work as a team. URs are not owned by the first responder. If another editor has first hand knowledge of the issue and can make the necessary corrections to the map to solve the reported issue, they are free to do so. Editors must comment on a UR when closing them, even if the editor is the original reporter.
When a UR does not contain enough information or the fix is not obvious, Kentucky has adopted at 1/4/8 system for response to Update Requests. 1/4/8 is the short way of explaining the following.
Day 1
Within 24 hours (1 day) after an Update Request has been submitted, an editor should provide a response to the Update Request to get the process started. This starts a seven day clock.
Day 4
If the reporter has not commented after 3 days (4 days since initial comment) a message should be sent reminding the reporter that we need more information about the problem they encountered to fix the issue.
Example
"Just a reminder: We have not received a response on your report. If we don't hear back from you soon we will infer everything is okay and close the report. Thanks!"
Note - While the 4 day reminder is not required in the South Atlantic region, Kentucky editors have seen a large number of responses from them and encourage their use.
Day 8
If the reporter still has not commented after 4 more days (8 days since initial comment) a message should be sent telling the reported that we were unable to fix the problem and this report is being closed. The Update Request then needs to be closed as Not Identified.
Example
"The problem was unclear and volunteers didn't receive a response so we are closing this report. As you travel, please feel welcome to report any map issues you encounter. Thanks!"
Old User Reports
The 1/4/8 rule has been very successful in our busy areas with editors maintaining them. There are some areas outside of our reach and occasionally as we venture off the beaten path, we come across a report that has been there for quite some time. We feel these reports are as valid as the reports opened yesterday and they should be given the same courtesy of response as new reports. Give the reporter a chance to respond.
Example:
"I apologize for the late response, as volunteer editors that have to travel an area to unlock it for editing, there are sometimes areas that only have a few editors. I recently visited this area and would like to help. Do you recall the problem you had here?"
If they let you know too much time has passed and they do not recall the issue, it can be closed if the problem can not be spotted. If the user does not respond, use the 1/4/8 rule.
Speed Limit Update Requests
1. The reporter reports the same SL that is already on the segment/road:
"Volunteer responding. Thank you for your report. Did you know You can set Waze to always display the speed limit? In Android tap speedometer > Settings > Show speed limit > Always show speed limit. In iOS tap the speedometer > Settings > toggle Show Speedometer to green/on."
Close the report as solved. Rationale for "solving" is the Wazer is verifying the SL for us in real time and closing as "not identified" could confuse or anger the Reporter.
2. Reporter gives a speed limit that doesn't make sense but would otherwise be a valid report. Tell the reporter what they reported and ask for input. In the above the report is 55MPH for a street in a commercial area. 25 MPH would be the expected limit. Below is an example. Change your response accordingly.
"Volunteer responding. Thank you for your report. We received your 55mph Speed Limit report you submitted for Highland Point Dr. Please verify the missing or incorrect speed limit."
Use normal UR process.
3. Speed Limit Update Request without enough info to process:
"Volunteer Responding. Thank you for your report. Waze did not send us enough information to fix your request. Would you please tell us as much as possible about the speed limit? Thanks!"
Use normal UR process.
4. Ramps:
"Volunteer responding - We reviewed your Missing Speed Limit report. At this time our guidance is to only publish speed limits that are signed with a regulatory sign, so we will close the report at this time. Please always try to follow advisory limits for safety."
Places
Kentucky 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.
When moderating Place Update Requests (PURs), please be aware that they are not added to the map until the Wazer hits Done. This means that a passenger of a car may take a great photo of a business, but be a block or two down the road before it is added. Zoom into the map where the Place was added and ensure they are where they are supposed to be.
Chain Name Harmonization
In an effort to keep common Places the same across the region, the South Atlantic wiki page now has a list to reference. The list includes Names, Alt Names, Categories, and Websites of Chain companies across the region. If you do not see a Chain listed and feel it should be added, please fill out this form to submit it for review.
Place Locking
Places can be locked once they have enough information so trusted users trying to change the information that has already been verified will need to have the changes approved. As a rule we lock Hospitals and Airports at 5 and everything else can be locked at 3, but only after it minimally has the following information:
Correct Category
Name - Formatted with Title Case (Use capital letters for the first letter in each word)
Area or Point with Destination Point in the correct location
Address - House number and correct street name
Please try to fill in all information available, but those items are the minimum.
Additional Information
1 July 2016 - This section is under construction. Please check back for updates.
Phone Numbers
Kentucky currently observes the following South Atlantic Region format for phone numbers:
(xxx) xxx-xxx
External Providers
Waze allows you to connect places and POI from external providers. One of the providers is Google Maps. When a Place is linked, drivers can select any destination from search results in the app, whether the result is from Waze or Google, it will always lead you to the navigation stop point from Waze. This can also be linked to a street address point for the business if the address point exists in Google Maps.
Connect an external POI following this procedure:
Create / Select a Place.
Click on the link: Link this Waze Place to a Google Place.
Gradually as you type the name of the place in the drop-down list, recommended external POI names begin to appear.
Select the correct name.
Save your changes.
If the place that has already been linked, you will see a box with the name and address of the external POI. Under this field is a unique identifier.
If you find that a site is linked to an improper external POI:
Delete link by clicking the X next to the POI field.
Save the changes.
Do not link the same external provider link to multiple Places.
Creating and editing links to External Provider POIs is allowed only by Rank 2 editors and above.
Website
Simplicity should be the goal when listing websites. Please remove http://, https://, and www. from addresses. When possible, website addresses should be simplified to the format: domain.com
The website for the Louisville Metro government would be: louisvilleky.gov
Although some places have pages for individual locations, like specific stores in a chain, you should use the primary website. The website for a Marathon station should be: mymarathonstation.com NOT mymarathonstation.com/StoreHome/90894
If the website for the place is hosted by a higher entity and includes information after domain suffix, please include information that is neccessary.
The website for one of the city parks in Louisville would be: louisvilleky.gov/government/parks/park-list/baxter-square
Kentucky Hospital/Medical
Kentucky editors consider Hospitals to be a very important Places to have set correctly on the map. Having a map full of Places with the Hospital category, or not having real hospitals available in searches makes it difficult for users to get help when they need it. Anything that does not have emergency services (ER or Immediate Care) should not have the Hospital/Medical category set. For individual doctor practices, dentists, or chiropractors, set the Place to Offices. For Nursing Homes, Psych Hospitals, or other large medical facilities that do not provide emergency services, please use Personal Care. If you are setting up an Immediate Care center with the Medical category, you must add the proper open and close times so users will see that it is closed outside of the business hours.
To better recognize which places might have an incorrect listing of Hospital, install the WME Place Harmonizer script (Rank 2+).
To get true hospitals added to the map, we are using a list from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Some of these hospitals do not have emergency services and need to be set for a different category. They are listed and completion should be tracked on this spreadsheet. If you do not have access to edit the sheet. Please contact one of the State Managers listed below.
To be considered complete, hospitals must have everything entered from the Place Locking area or this wiki page, as well as the ER point Place mapped and Parking lots named and set as area Places. Please use these guidelines when naming ER point Places.
Set the primary name as "ER - Hospital Name"
Alternate names for ER point Places should include:
A name that spells out "Emergency Room" with the hospital name
(ex. "Baptist Hospital East - Emergency Room")
A name that includes the city name if not already present in the hospital name
(ex. "ER - Versailles" as an alt name for Bluegrass Community Hospital)
Do not add an alt name with the city name if the city is listed as part of the hospital name; it is redundant for search purposes.
(ex. "ER - Frankfort" SHOULD NOT be added to Frankfort Regional Medical Center).
Kentucky Post Office Naming
Naming Post Office locations in Kentucky varies from USA guidance to follow the NYC Naming Model. When mapping these locations in Kentucky, the name format should be:
USPS: Start the name with "Post Office" and the zip code, if there is a station specific name, put that after the zip code separated by a hyphen (-). Add an alternate name for "USPS". Include "CPU" or "VPO" if they are listed in the name by the USPS. Examples:
"Post Office 10001 - James A Farley"
"USPS"
"Post Office 10458 - CPU Fordham University"
"USPS"
"Post Office 10469"
"USPS"
"Post Office 11213 - St John's Pl"
"USPS"
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 Kentucky.
Based on information researched at the time this page was created, Kentucky does not have any laws regarding red light or speed cameras, therefore they may be present in the state.
No other camera types should be mapped in Waze.
Kentucky state law does not specifically prohibit the use of red light cameras, but as the law on running a red light is currently worded, it must be witnessed by someone present at the time. In most cases, that someone is a police officer. This makes red light cameras generally unenforceable, so we will remove them.
Many Kentucky cities are using cameras at intersections that are traffic monitoring cameras, such as Trimarc in the Louisville area. These cameras should not be added to the map either.
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.
Proactive Shelter List
We are preparing a list for Waze to use in case of a disaster in Kentucky that would open either Evacuation or Post-event Relief shelters. This is a test of a proactive list for Kentucky that will have all potential shelters with the option to enable them when they are opened.
What we need at this point, is to help fill in the blanks. Editable area is not required for filling in the sheet, but it does help to add the Place in the Waze Map Editor. It would nice to have all of the listings added to the map, whether it is a school, fire department, church, etc. Once they are added and as complete as possible we should select the Place, and zoom in to level 9 or 10 (as close as you can see) to where the Help pin should be added in the app. Copy the PL with the venue and paste into the sheet in the column for PermaLinks. The list is sorted by county to make it easier to find the ones in your editable area.
That will take care of the Red Cross shelters. Some other states have shelters that people can evacuate their homes and wait out tornadoes or other bad storms. We need these added to the sheet if they exist in the state. The Pin Name should be added as "Storm Shelter". If you have any other suggestions of potential shelter types in the state, please let a Kentucky SM know.
Now that the Speed Limit fields are in Waze Map Editor and speed limits are live in the app for Kentucky, we should use every opportunity to fill in this information. For more information on entering speed limits you can visit the Speed Limits wiki.
Note: Speed limits may be lowered in construction/work zones if those limits appear on regulatory black and white signs, and should be changed in WME. Generally, only speed limits for long-term projects should be changed on the map. These changes should be tracked with this spreadsheet.
Speed Limits on Streets
Kentucky has speed limits entered for all Freeways, Major Highways, Minor Highways, and Primary Streets in the state. This helps drivers for the majority of trips, but to be complete all Streets need to have speed limits added as well. Use these steps to add speed limits to Streets:
Search for a speed limit for a particular road in the local resources for the city or county
If the road is not explicitly listed and the city or county has a default speed limit, add that.
If none of the above apply to the road, leave the speed limit blank.
(Optional) Driving roads to submit speed limit update requests is acceptable, however, editors will not be asked to do so and will only be done on a voluntary basis.
To locate road segments with missing speed limits, refer to the maps linked by county name in the Kentucky County/City Speed Limit Resources spreadsheet. As you add missing speed limits, please delete the pin on the map for each respective road segment.
Not every city and county has information yet on the Kentucky County/City Speed Limit Resources spreadsheet. More information is needed for many localities. If you can research and contribute to city and county speed limit information, contact a State Manager for editing rights to the spreadsheet.
County Map
The Kentucky Highway renaming project is finished. All Interstate, US and State Highways have been updated with Speed Limits, functional classification, proper highway naming, and proper routing techniques. That means we are down to Street type segments. Below is a map we will use to track which counties have all roads updated.
Counties with all roads complete
Recommended Browser Scripts
In addition to the recommended scripts that make editing on Waze easier, i.e. Validator and Toolbox, there are some scripts that are specific to Kentucky that really assist editors while working within the state. You will need a script manager installed such as TamperMonkey.
Kentucky Validator Localization
This script requires Validator to be installed first. It provides extra rules that are specific to Kentucky's guidelines to highlight on the map.
Link to script
KYTC Addon
Easy lookup of road information provided by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's map with Alt+K while hovering over the road and a link in the footer of the page to open KYTC's functional classification map in the same location you have Waze Map Editor.
Link to script
Kentucky County Overlay
Creates rough polygon layer for Counties in Kentucky and displays the name in the top left corner where city/state name shows. This is not meant to be used for any official lines, but as a tool to help you know where you are when a city name is not present in WME.
Link to script
KYTC/DOT Reports
Diplays traffic events posted by state Transportation Cabinet and DOT. Currently supports Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska, and Iowa. States can be enabled under the DOT tab.
Link to script
Area Managers
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in Kentucky. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers Kentucky, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in Kentucky, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for Kentucky 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.
Kentucky — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
Please feel free to reach out to the Area Manager for the area you are working in. If there is not an Area Manager assigned, contact the State Manager.
Other Area Editors
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.
