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.

Introduction

North Carolina is a part of the South Atlantic region, which includes the states and/or territories of:

Kentucky / North Carolina / South Carolina / Tennessee.

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

NC Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations

NC Association of Rural Planning Organizations

County Resources - GIS Data

Major Construction Projects

Major construction projects with primary editors and additional information is listed here.

Construction Information Sources

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.

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.

We also use Discord for communicating in the South Atlantic region. Feel free to either click here or contact the RC or a North Carolina SM (listed below) 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.

There are 553 Incorporated Cities and Towns in North Carolina. See Cities and Towns for proper naming information. At this time these should be the only ones labeled as such.

NOTE: North Carolina does not use Census Designated Places (CDPs) for city names.

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.

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 are road classification system:

This should be the first step in determining how a road should be type. 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 Type - 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 the 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 the 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.

A number of examples are given below the chart.

		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^[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	Major	Major	Major	Major	Major
	Minor Arterial^[e]	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	Minor	Minor
	Major Collector	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	PS	PS
	Minor Collector	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	PS	PS
	Local/not mapped	n/a	Major	Major	Minor	Minor	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.

^e Also known as Other Arterial.

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 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

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.

**Speed Limit Status**
Function Class	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.

**North Carolina Minimum Locking Rank Standard**
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.

Special roads

Drivable roads

North Carolina follows the standard USA guidelines for all of the following special road types.

Non-drivable roads

Review the Wiki guidelines for non-drivable roads to ensure compliance with the general guidelines.

Railroads - NOTICE: New guidelines as of June 28, 2016.

Allowed Railroad Names in NC are:

Craggy Mountain Line
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
New Hope Valley Railway

Other Drivable roads

Dirt Road / 4X4 Trail - NOTE: If the Function Class calls for an unpaved road to be Minor or Major Highway, consult with the State Managers before changing it.
Parking Lot Roads
Private Roads - NOTE: Read up on this before using this road type. This road type can be harmful to routing if used incorrectly.
Toll Roads - NOTE: There is currently one tollway in the State of North Carolina.

North Carolina Turnpike Authority

Ferry - Contact the State Manager before using this road type.

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 here.

Note: Closures for vehicle accidents do not need to be tracked.

Statewide road closure page:

We now have two sources for NCDOT closure information:

Citywide road closure pages:

City of Asheville road closure page

City of Charlotte road closure page

City of Greensboro road closure page

City of Raleigh road closure page

City of Winston-Salem road closure page

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.

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.

See Military_Bases#Places 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.

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 Airports, Hospitals, and Freeway Rest Areas 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.

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.

Known 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 NC DOT & 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.

Username	Area Managed	Comments
North Carolina — Area, State, Country Managers, and Regional Coordinators
Regional Coordinator(s): [RC] xanderb (PM)
Country Managers (South Atlantic region) (Add to or edit Country and State sections of table)
xanderb(6) [PM]	Statewide	Covers SAT region
crazycaveman(6) [PM]	Statewide	Resident of SC Covers SAT region
dfortney(6) [PM]	Statewide	Resident of state 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)
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
ABelter(4) [PM]	Statewide	Raleigh Resident
Area Managers (Add to or edit this section)
grsmhiker(5) [PM]	Statewide	TN State Manager, SAT MSM, area extends into Graham, Swain, Haywood Counties
Onmywaysir(5) [PM]	Statewide
RaptorGuyInNC(5) [PM]	Alliance & Bayboro (Also SD State Manager)
XKSpeed(5) [PM]	Murphy, Andrews, Hayesville (Also 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
Rooksie(4) [PM]	Sapphire Valley Area
russwd(4) [PM]	Cleveland, Rutherford, and Polk counties
Confedyank(3) [PM]	Alamance County	NC Places Perfectionist
friendlybear(3) [PM]	Wake and Harnett Counties
Goddard244(3) [PM]	Wilmington, Jacksonville, and the Crystal Coast
ShaneNottingham(3) [PM]	Western NC	Asheville
WazieQ(3) [PM]	Durham & Orange Counties