There are five methods to control traffic flow:
- Mega events
- Road closures
- Closures report from the client
- Partial restrictions
- Disconnect road segments
- Mega event - A major event that will typically have road closures or detours. It is usually a scheduled event with significant exposure and likely to impact an entire community. A major natural disaster can be added after it occurs if roads are going to be rerouted for many days.
- Road Closures - Road Closures can be entered in WME, or through the client as you drive by them. See next item for Closures report from client. Closures can be added to segments in WME by high ranking editors, without actually modifying the segment, or its turn restrictions. These display in the client and Livemap with alerts and candy stripes on the segments notifying users of the closures.
Due to its' safety and visibilty, this is the preferred method for closing a road.
Editors who do not have access to add closures in WME can request a higher ranking editor to help using a designated request format, or the unlock/update request for their country. In the USA the Road Closures Form (USA) is used.
- Closures report from the client - Users in the client app can mark an unexpected road closure they see while driving. It is typically used for unexpected, short term closures of up to a few days. This feature requires multiple users at the location to enter the same road closure information on the map before it will be seen by other drivers.
- Partial restrictions - AKA Scheduled or Time-Based Restrictions. Used when turns or roadways are restricted for certain times of day, days of the week, vehicle types, etc. It has the ability to only restrict during a specific date range, so it can be used in place of mega events or temporary road closures if necessary (as a last resort).
- Disconnect road segments - Road segments should only be physically disconnected if the road is no longer intended to connect or is being permanently removed. In the past, this method was used for longer term construction projects, but now the Road Closure feature should be used.