North Carolina
This page serves as the primary resource for editors of North Carolina. 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.
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This page has been updated as of 3/23/2022.
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Introduction
North Carolina is a part of the South Atlantic region, which includes the states and/or territories of:
Mapping resources
Before editing the maps in North Carolina, 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.
State Resources
NCDOT Resources
- NCDOT State Mapping Resources
- NC State-Maintained Highways and Roads
- NC Functional Classification Map
- NCDOT Secondary Roads Database Lookup (SR Numbers)
Planning Organizations
- NC Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
- NC Association of Rural Planning Organizations
County GIS Data
Major Construction Projects
- Major construction projects with primary editors and additional information is listed here.
- East End Connector I-885 / NC-885 / NC-147 Construction
Construction Information Sources
- North Carolina Traffic & Travel at DriveNC.gov
- Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO)
Community
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 North Carolina.
- North Carolina section of Waze forum
- The South Atlantic region forum
- The USA section of Waze Forum
- The USA segment unlock requests
Area Managers for North Carolina can be found in the table below.
New editors should consider checking into the formal mentoring program available at no charge.
Discord
The South Atlantic (SAT) region primarily uses Discord for real-time communication among editors. Editors of any level may join the server by clicking here, or contact any North Carolina AM or SM for an invitation.
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).
Duplicate cities can be caused by incorrectly named segments and should be corrected following the guidelines in the duplicate cities article.
North Carolina utilizes Incorporated Cities and Towns for primary names on segments.
- There are 553 Incorporated Cities and Towns in North Carolina, which are the only city names that should be listed as primary.
- Segments outside of any incorporated city/town limits should have the "None" checkbox on the City field checked.
- NOTE: North Carolina does not use Census Designated Places (CDPs) for city names.
USPS city names should be added as an alternate name on:
- All segments that do not have a primary city (i.e. "None" is checked).
- Any segment whose mailing city differs from the primary incorporated city.
Major roads
North Carolina follows the general road naming and road type guidelines of the USA.
An exception currently to the USA Roads standard is North Carolina state highways. North Carolina has numbered state highways from Controlled Access Freeways down to Alleys. Because of this, North Carolina strictly uses Functional Classification to set road types for state highways and below.
Road Names
See Road types for general rules where North Carolina does not specifically differ.
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See Military Bases for a complete list of rules for mapping on Military Bases. |
North Carolina has two classes of state funded roads, Primary State Highways, and Secondary Roads (aka State Rte or Road). Please carefully observe the following naming formats for roads in these categories.
Primary State Highways
State Highways are numbers under 1000 (1-3 digits) and bear the NC diamond shield.
- These roads should be named "NC-###"
- Use a single hyphen and no spaces between NC and the route number.
- This applies to both Primary and Alternate road names.
Secondary Roads (aka State Rte or Road)
Secondary Roads are route numbers of 1000 or greater (four digits or more).
- These Roads are not signed with shields. Regular green or white road signs are most commonly used to designate secondary roads.
- On green signs, the prefix "SR" should precede the road number.
- On white signs (commonly attached to stop signs), it will just have the road number. (See pictures above)
- These roads should be named "SR-####" Use a single hyphen and no spaces between SR and the road number.
- These names are typically used as Alternate Road names, along with Primary names which match local road signage.
- SR numbers can be found using the NCDOT Secondary Roads Database Lookup.
NOTE: North Carolina does not use County Road numbers. If found, these should be updated to the Secondary Road format
Road Function Class
See Road types as a general rule.
We have also incorporated the NC Functional Class Map into our road classification system:
This should be the first step in determining the correct road type in WME. The list below are minimums (e.g. a State Highway would be at a minimum a minor highway. It could also be a major highway or freeway depending on functional class).
- Freeway - Interstates and all other roads with no at-grade intersections.
- Major Highway - US Highways, Interstates that have at-grade intersections.
- Minor Highway - State Highways, US Business Highways.
- Primary Street - State Business Highways.
If the road is not defined as one of the above then please use the functional class to determine what type to qualify the road as.
Using the NC Functional Class Map
The NC Functional Class Map is divided into 9 road type classifications. Most road classifications will minimally be defined by the above criteria. For all other roads that do not fit into that criteria, please use the references below:
| Functional Class | Waze Type |
|---|---|
| Interstate | Freeway |
| Other Freeway | Freeway |
| Other Principal Arterial | Major Highway |
| Minor Arterial | Minor Highway |
| Major Collector | Primary Street |
| Minor Collector | Primary Street |
| Local | Street |
Contact an Area Manager or State Manager if you feel there is an exception to these rules. Consistency is key. Do not change a road type for routing sake or to make it appear on the map at a higher speed. Also, do not switch road types every few segments just because the functional class does (Contact an AM or SM for help).
Function Class Quick Reference Chart
Refer to this chart to determine the road type of a given paved public road based on the North Carolina 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 North Carolina functional class meet, you will find the proper road type for that particular road.
| Highway Systems | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Interstate |
Interstate Business Loop/Spur |  US Hwy |
US Hwy BUS, SPUR, LOOP | State Hwy (incl. some special routes) |
State Hwy BUS, SPUR[a], LOOP | Locally-maintained | ||
| example | I-95 N | I-95 Business | US-301 | US-301 Business | NC-87 | NC-87 Business | Robertson St | |
| N C F u n c t i o n a l C l a s s |
Interstate[b] | Fw | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Other Freeway[c] | n/a | Fw | Fw | Fw | Fw | Fw | Fw | |
| Other Principal Arterial[d] | n/a | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Major/MH | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | |
| Minor Arterial[e] | n/a | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | |
| Major Collector | n/a | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | PS | PS | |
| Minor Collector | n/a | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | PS | PS | |
| Local/not mapped | n/a | Major (MH) | Major (MH) | Minor (mH) | Minor (mH) | PS | Street (St) | |
| Fw | Freeway |
| Major (MH) | Major Highway |
| Minor (mH) | Minor Highway |
| PS | Primary Street |
| Street (St) | 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.
^e Also known as Other Arterial.
Examples
- 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 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 .
Speed Limits
See Speed limits as a general rule.
Do not assume! Know the correct speed limit for a segment before setting a speed limit.
If you do not know the speed limit for a segment leave it blank. It is safer to not set a speed limit then to get it wrong.
North Carolina statutory speed limit laws are:
- Within municipal corporate limits is 35 MPH unless otherwise posted.
- Outside municipal corporate limits is 55 MPH unless otherwise posted.
- Military Installations is 30 MPH unless otherwise posted.
- Interstates (Freeways) all have posted speed limits and a maximum of 70 MPH.
| Road Type | Status |
|---|---|
| Freeway | 100% |
| Major Highway | 100% |
| Minor Highway | 100% |
| Primary Street | 99.3% |
| Street | 26.6% |
| USA Score | 98.5% |
| USA Rank | 10 |
| Updated 2018-08-13 | |
Road Locking
In North Carolina 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.
| Segment Type | Statewide |
|---|---|
| Freeway | 5 |
| Ramp | Highest rank of connected segment |
| Major Highway | 4 |
| Minor Highway | 3 |
| Primary Street | 2 |
| Street | 1 |
| • • • • Ferry • • • • | 5 |
| |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| | 2 |
Note: Certain areas may be locked higher than the above minimums. Please do not lower locks unless approved by the RC or SM of North Carolina.
Road Elevation
In general, North Carolina only follows “True Elevation” to the extent that negative elevations should only be used for tunnels, and does not follow “Seagull” elevation rules, with some exceptions as described below. This is due in part to issues experienced with exceptionally short segments, and to our state’s unique closures system, where most closures are handled by editors instead of Waze Partners.
General Principles
- Drivable and non-drivable segments are handled the same way with elevation.
- Set elevation to Ground in most cases.
- Only segments passing over other segments shall have higher elevation, relative to ground.
- The entire segment should be elevated between existing junctions with other segments.
- Do not cut segments at the start/end of a bridge (see exceptions below).
- Do not increase elevation on segments passing over water or any other bridge that does not cross other segments (see exceptions below).
- Elevation of overlapping segments should be set relative to each other, with the lowest segment as Ground (unless a tunnel).
- Only set elevation as low/high as necessary (i.e. only set elevation to 2 if passing over a segment set to 1)
- Only tunnel segments should have negative elevation.
Exceptions
In order to allow for proper closure placement, there are exceptions to the above guidance:
- If a navigable destination (i.e. house number or place entry point) exists on a segment that would be elevated, the segment should be cut at the start/end of the bridge/actual elevated portion (unless another junction is located within 60m/200ft).
- Bridges over water on rural, two-way segments should be mapped with cuts at the start/end of the bridge (unless another junction is located within 60m/200ft), and the elevation raised by 1 to suppress “unneeded junction” warnings from scripts.
Reminders
- If you use the Bridge tool to join segments, be aware that it raises the elevation of the joined segment. Lower the joined segment as appropriate.
- Tunnels should be cut at least 15m/50ft before and after the tunnel, to allow time for the GPS to regain signal, and must have the “Tunnel” checkbox selected in addition to negative elevation.
Examples
Lane Guidance
North Carolina follows national guidance for Lanes. Contact an NC SM with any questions.
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Do not add lanes to H or # intersections if they are outside of the angles currently allowed by the lanes heuristics. Instead, leave a map comment noting "future lanes" needed. |
Road Shields
North Carolina follows national guidance for shields and visual turn instructions.
Shields on Streets
- See Shields for US Guidance.
- IMPORTANT: Only add shields on streets where the primary name matches the shield you intend to add. For example, on a street with a primary name of “US-64 W”, you should add a “US Hwy Main” shield with the number “64” and the direction “Wᴇꜱᴛ” (using the proper small caps). But if a portion of US-64 is named “W Main St”, you will not add the shield to that primary name.
- Instead, in the above example, US-64 should already be an alt name on W Main St, and the shield can/should be added to that alt name.
NC diamond shields should only be added to NC-### highways; secondary roads with SR-#### numbers do not have shields.
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As of January 2022, NC has all of its requested state shields available in WME. If you come across a shield design that is not available, please contact an SM. |
Visual Instructions
- See Turn Instructions for US Guidance.
- If you have any questions about adding turn instructions that include shields, contact an NC SM.
Special roads
Drivable roads
North Carolina follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.
- Divided highways and roadways
- Carpool, HOV, Transit lanes
- Roundabouts and traffic circles
- Dead ends and culs-de-sac
- Toll roads
- Partial and scheduled restrictions
- Private installations and military bases
Non-drivable roads
Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| Railroad |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|
- View US Guidance for Railroads
- Allowed Railroad Names in NC are:
- Craggy Mountain Line
- Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
- New Hope Valley Railway
- Craggy Mountain Line
| | | | | Routable Pedestrian Path | | | | |
| | | | | Non-Routable Pedestrian Path | | | | |
| | | | | Stairway | | | | |
Other Drivable roads
Off-road / Not maintained
- View US Guidance for Off-Road/Not Maintained Roads
- NOTE: If the Functional Class calls for an unpaved road to be Minor or Major Highway , consult with the State Managers before changing it.
Parking Lot Road
Private Road
- View US Guidance for Private Roads
- IMPORTANT: Read up on this before using this road type. This road type can be harmful to routing if used incorrectly.
• • • • Ferry • • • •
- View US Guidance for Ferries
- Contact the State Managers before using this road type.
Toll Roads
- View US Guidance for Toll Roads
- All tollways in the State of North Carolina are managed by the North Carolina Turnpike Authority
- Contact a State Manager, or the Country Manager who last added the toll pricing (see map comment over segments), before editing any toll road.
Driveways
- View US Guidance for Driveways
- NOTE: This guidance was updated in December 2020. North Carolina uses ___ road type for driveways (tbd; check with SMs).
Closures
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.
Road Closures in North Carolina are tracked in the NC Closures Spreadsheet here.
- This may also be accessed at wazenc.us/closures
- Contact an NC SM for edit access to this spreadsheet
- Note: Closures for vehicle accidents do not need to be tracked
Statewide road closure page:
Major cities' road closure pages:
- City of Asheville road closure dashboard
- City of Charlotte road closure map
- City of Greensboro road closure page
- City of Raleigh road closure page
- City of Winston-Salem road closure page
Other road closure pages
- NPS Blue Ridge Parkway closure page - Updated daily at approximately 7am
Places
North Carolina 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.
Deviations may also be approved by contacting an NC SM.
Place Update Requests
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.
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See here for rules for mapping places on Military Bases. Photos of any kind are NOT ALLOWED on places within Military Bases! |
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.
Experienced editors may also use the Place Name Harmonization script to assist with this process.
Place Locking
Editors are encouraged to fill in all available information about a place. A place can be locked once 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
Once complete, NC uses the following minimum place locks:
| Place Category | Minimum Lock |
|---|---|
| Airports, Hospitals, and Freeway Rest Areas | 5 |
| All other places | 3 |
Other important places such as major tourist attractions prone to editing and major parks can be locked at 4 or 5 as necessary to protect their integrity.
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.
Be sure to know your cameras before accepting new camera reports.
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 North Carolina.
- Speed Cameras are NOT CURRENTLY LEGAL in the State of North Carolina.
- Red light Cameras are legal only in specific jurisdictions:
There are also cameras mounted on traffic signal posts that are used by traffic engineers to observe current conditions. These devices CAN NOT issue tickets.
There are traditional traffic monitoring cameras covering most of the major highways in the state. These send live video to NCDOT & local media and serve ONLY as a traffic monitoring system.
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.
Tracked Projects
Use Waze NC Projects Sheet for tracking.
Hospitals
- Add/Update place for all Hospitals.
- Add/Update place for Emergency Rooms.
Fire Stations
- Add/Update place for all Fire Stations.
Schools
- Add/Update place for all schools.
Freeway Rest Areas
- Update freeway rest areas to the match standards.
Shelters
- Add/Update place for shelters.
- DO NOT add shelter to the place type.
VA Clinics
- Add/Update place for VA Clinics.
National Cemeteries
- Add/Update place for National Cemeteries.
Non-tracked Projects
Railroads
- Railroads need to be updated to new guidelines. (changed on June 28, 2016)
- Refer to Special Roads for a list of allowed Railroad names.
Area Managers
The table below identifies the editors also designated as Area Managers or higher who are editing in North Carolina. If you have any questions, please consider contacting them directly as needed. If you are an Area Manager that covers North Carolina, or a USA Country Manager that does a lot of work in North Carolina, please add yourself to this list (alphabetical by username) in the correct rank section.
The editor who also serves as the Regional Coordinator for North Carolina 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.
| North Carolina — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators | ||
| Regional Coordinator(s): [RC] xanderb (PM)  [ARC1] dfortney (PM)
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| Username | Area Managed | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Country Managers (South Atlantic region) | ||
| xanderb(6) [PM] |
Statewide |     Covers SAT region |
| crazycaveman(6) [PM] |
Statewide |   Resident of SC Covers SAT region |
| dfortney(6) [PM] |
Statewide |  Resident of state SAT ARC NC State Manager |
| whathappened15(6) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of TN Covers SAT region |
jwe252(5) [PM]  |
Statewide | Resident of SC Covers SAT region |
| uscwaller(5) [PM] |
Statewide | SC SM Covers SAT region |
| State Managers (South Atlantic region) | ||
| ABelter(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Raleigh Resident SAT Traffic Event Marshal |
| DCLemur(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of state |
| hiroaki27609(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of state |
| s18slider(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of state |
| The_Cre8r(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of state |
| Area Managers | ||
| grsmhiker(5) [PM] |
Statewide |  TN State Manager, SAT MSM, area extends into Graham, Swain, Haywood Counties |
| mapman44(5) [PM] |
Statewide | Resident of State |
| MrNicGuy(5) [PM] |
Northeast NC | VA State Manager |
| Onmywaysir(5) [PM] |
Statewide | WY State Manager |
| phuz(5) [PM] |
Outer Banks | DE State Manager |
| RaptorGuyInNC(5) [PM] |
Alliance & Bayboro | SD State Manager |
| XKSpeed(5) [PM] |
Murphy, Andrews, Hayesville | GA State Manager |
idontkerr(4) [PM]  |
Eastern NC | Garner |
| NightReaper86(4) [PM] |
Triad | Columbia, SC AM |
| Nolay2011(4) [PM] |
New Bern, Jacksonville / Camp Lejeune, Topsail Beach | |
| NUhomer(4) [PM] |
North Charlotte Metro | |
| russwd(4) [PM] |
Cleveland, Rutherford, and Polk counties | |
burgher_2(3) [PM]  |
Charlotte NC to Columbia SC | |
| friendlybear(3) [PM] |
Wake and Harnett Counties | |
| Goddard244(3) [PM] |
Wilmington, Jacksonville, and the Crystal Coast | |
| ShaneNottingham(3) [PM] |
Western NC | Asheville |
| TheMet4lGod(3) [PM] |
Catawba and Caldwell counties | |
| tortured1(3) [PM] |
Charlotte and Concord | |
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.
| Other Area Editors | ||
| Username | General Editing Area | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Rooksie(4) [PM] |
Sapphire Valley Area | |
| Confedyank(3) [PM] |
Alamance County | NC Places Perfectionist |
| WazieQ(3) [PM] |
Durham & Orange Counties | |
Other states and territories
The other states and territories of the USA can be found in the navigation box below. Press the "show" button to open the box.
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