Roadside Park Consistency
Michigan has 80+ MDOT-maintained roadside parks and scenic turnouts, spanning both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. They are found on state and US highways, and typically are seasonal, open Apr-Nov. Usually found at a scenic natural feature, they provide parking, and most provide toilet facilities and picnic areas. These are not Rest Areas(see the Rest Area wiki page). The State of Michigan maintains a list of MDOT roadside parks here, and on the MiDrive map.
Roadside Parks
Place Categories
- Park (under Outdoors) should be set as the primary category.
Naming Standards
The standardized name format has been optimized for both instant and regular search results.
- The name begins with "Roadside Park" to facilitate the instant search results, which are based on the first words of the search term.
- The name of the park comes next in the place's name, following a hyphen (-). The proper name is the official MDOT name, found in the links in the opening paragraph.
- Example: "Roadside Park - Michigamme"
Other Guidelines
- Include a (concise) description using text from MDOT, along any other relevant info (such as "Closed during winter, only open Apr-Nov").
- Use the MiDrive link for the website, and MDOT main contact for the phone number.
- Follow all other guidelines for Places.
Road Segments
Roadside parks can have one or two entrances/exits. They are handled differently in order to give users the most clear turn instructions possible, regardless of whether the park is routed as a final or intermediate destination.
One Entrance
- Use an unnamed PLR.
Two Entrances
- Use a PLR in two segments, with the name "Roadside Park".
Lock Level
- Lock level should be the same as the highest connecting segment to the parks PLR's. The park AP, PLA, and road segment should all be at the same lock level.