Montana/Major roads/Main Discussion View history

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As of Dec. 2015 Montana's Primary Highways are to be labeled "MT-xxx" and Secondary Highways "State Hwy xxx" to preserve the state shield. See this complete list of Numbered Highways for cross reference. US-10 no longer exists as it was replaced by I-90 and I-94. However, Old Hwy 10 still exists in some areas and should be mapped as such.


Locking Standard

Montana observes the following locking standards on the following types of road segments. All roads must be locked at least to the minimum level stated. If needing a segment unlocked or locked to a </> level please use the Unlock and Update Request forum.

Montana Minimum Locking Standards
Segment Type Rank
 Freeway  4
 Ramp  Highest rank of connected segments
 Major Highway  3
 Minor Highway  2
 Primary Street  2
 |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|  2
All Others 1

U-turn Legality

Limitation on U-turns --[1] turning on curve or crest of grade prohibited. An operator of a vehicle may not turn the vehicle to proceed in the opposite direction:

  • unless the movement can be made safely and without interfering with other traffic; or
  • upon any curve or upon the approach to or near the crest of a grade where the vehicle cannot be seen by the operator of any other vehicle approaching from either direction within 500 feet.

^1 MT Code 61-8-334. Limitation on U-turns

For Waze routing, u-turns should only be enabled where they provide the potential for improved routing, which includes recovering from missed turns. A common example is a median-divided primary street that has homes/businesses with their driveways/entrances directly on it, where reaching them would otherwise require lengthy, multi-turn deviations through side roads in order to end up on the correct side of the median.

Elevation Guidelines

Familiarize yourself how elevation works and Waze standards. Montana currently follows the outlines stated in the Seagull article. There is also a discussion thread in the forums pertaining to elevation that can be followed here.

  • If a seagull can fly right under it, it’s a bridge (level greater than 0).
  • A road is only level = +2 if there’s another bridge (+1) running underneath it.
  • If it is underground and covered over, check the tunnel check box. The road segment must begin at least 50 feet before GPS signal is lost, and continue at least 50 feet after GPS signal is recovered.
  • For every other case the road is ground level (level = Ground), even if it’s artificially elevated or dug under street level.


Speed Limits


Montana follows the Waze wiki Speed Limit guidelines when it comes to adding SL to segments. The only exception to this guidelines is adding SL to work zone areas, we do not add SL to these areas as the SL will change at unknown times and can not be verified in some cities or counties.