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AwkwardMachine t1_iwj96c9 wrote

Waze likes to take you through there and after I did it once and sat there for like 15 minutes in rush hour I never did again.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwjc5mf wrote

It won’t anymore!

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theghostofm t1_iwl26o7 wrote

Oh, oh! I have a question for you regarding Waze specifically: Do you guys communicate with Waze or any of the local volunteer editors? Aggressive routing like this can sometimes be mitigated by updating metadata of intersections on the map. Obviously it often makes sense to close through traffic like in this case, but perhaps sometimes there are map tweaks that can be made to help alleviate smaller routing problems.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl8mwj wrote

Well, this isn’t just a Waze update. Concrete barriers are being placed.

But yes; we work very closely with Waze reps and traffic professionals. We have a partnership with them, and any and all closures (temporary and permanent) you see us announcing are getting uploaded to Waze so you can use it to navigate around them.

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theghostofm t1_iwl90se wrote

> Well, this isn’t just a Waze update. Concrete barriers are being placed.

Yep, I totally got that (The "try not to drive through the concrete barrier" comment is the best thing to come out of official City communication channels in the history of forever). But more clarification never hurt anyone, so thanks for communicating that!

> But yes; we work very closely with Waze reps and traffic professionals. We have a partnership with them, and any and all closures (temporary and permanent) you see us announcing are getting uploaded to Waze so you can use it to navigate around them.

That's cool to hear. One note: Your answer specifically mentions road closures, but my question was more about mitigation of aggressive routing in cases where road closures are not done. Is that something you also work on with Waze reps?

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl9ezh wrote

Nope. We are only working with road closures at this time. Waze is constantly updating the map itself, so we’re providing them with the most up-to-date data of whatever we’re physically doing on the ground so they can do what they’re best at.

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theghostofm t1_iwla9zz wrote

Interesting!

> Waze is constantly updating the map itself

I'm a part of that. For the past few years, I've been pretty active as a volunteer map editor for the city. I've added thousands of updates and additions, especially in East Bmore. One challenge is the fact that unfortunate routing problems are somewhat obfuscated from us. But if we were able to have broader insight into where we should mitigate these kinds of issues, it'd be great for Waze users and hopefully for city traffic in general!!

Oversimplified explanation: we have several different metadata we can apply to intersections and road segments which can impact how aggressive the routing algorithm will be with them. If we know about where there are likely problems with routing, we can work to improve them!

I don't necessarily want to add to your (likely considerable) burden, but I wonder if it'd be okay to suggest something like this: Would you guys consider sharing information regarding traffic patterns with the volunteers or reps?

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwlb9d5 wrote

We are so grateful for your work!

What we’d like to be able to do is share that data directly with Waze themselves so that they can make appropriate changes. The progressional relationship is rather new, but we’re planning on doing even more with them.

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PM_ME_UR_CC_INFO t1_iwldm54 wrote

This is interesting! I have heard folks in my neighborhood say that Google and Waze route people through Medfield via Grandview Ave when 83 is slow. Is that the sort of thing you’re looking for?

If that’s what you’re looking for, and you haven’t already, perhaps reach out to community associations. Those groups will likely know if GPS routing is an ongoing issue in their area.

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theghostofm t1_iwliw4x wrote

Oh yeah, that's a great example!

For reaching out to community associations, that's definitely something we do to some degree. Neighborhood facebook groups are another good resource.

Unfortunately, adding different individuals and groups makes a complex web of communication. The idea of getting some level of communication or data directly from the city DOT, which can quantify, collate, and highlight trends is so exciting because it lets us get more meaningful data, that's higher quality, with some expectation of consistency, without needing to navigate a network of complaints and hearsay gathered from a network of different sources.

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The_Waxies_Dargle t1_iwjmul1 wrote

Are you the same team that ran the health department reddit?

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwjmy1p wrote

Sir, this is the Department of Transportation.

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[deleted] t1_iwl7z33 wrote

I love that now that now that millenials and zoomers run the world, everything is responded to with jokes/memes. Like, if we're all going to be destitute, underpaid and overcharged for everything in life, with the world on the brink of total collapse, we might as well make dumb jokes from official accounts cause fuck it.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl8wzn wrote

At least we’ll have quiet, pedestrian-friendly roads. Net gain?

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[deleted] t1_iwl9ppm wrote

You mean when we're all dead? Sure.

But we both know the better gain would be more/better public transit so that the roads were quiet because people weren't on them but still alive.

Any word on the red line coming back with Wes Moore?

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[deleted] t1_iwlhh27 wrote

Btw, do orange stickers means something is getting towed? There’s been a heroin brothel trailer in a no stopping zone on Buena Vista Ave in Hampden for two weeks that I noticed finally has an orange sticker.

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[deleted] t1_iwjohgs wrote

You’re running a social media account, I don’t think it’s a dumbass question. Irrelevant and not important, sure, but you didn’t need to meme him for it.

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Level-Enthusiasm4478 t1_iwjm6s7 wrote

Just currious, but how?
A sign won't stop me. I can't read

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwjmbd3 wrote

We suggest not trying to drive through the concrete barriers.

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Level-Enthusiasm4478 t1_iwjn8ut wrote

u/BmoreCityDOT ... this is the type of sas we need. Not the sas we desrve.

Btw ,side note. I noticed a shit tone of cars today on the promanade near little italy and peir 5. Do you know what is up with that?

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Shojo_Tombo t1_iwkwea5 wrote

What's the process to have your street closed to thru traffic? GPS constantly tries to route semi trucks down our narrow street with tight corners, which has caused several trucks to hit resident vehicles or get stuck and have to reverse back down the street and risk more damage. People also think it's a shortcut and fly down the road like they're drag racing. One of my neighbors' kids is going to get run over if we don't get some traffic calming or completely close it.

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Hisyphus t1_iwl80s4 wrote

Have you emailed or sent a message to your local representative? They might be able to assist you.

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SaveFailsafe t1_iwjme9x wrote

If they're serious they could put a physical roadblock halfway down the street. So residents can get in and out either end, but you have to exit the same side you enter.

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Human-sweatervest t1_iwjpcu4 wrote

As someone who lives pretty much exactly halfway down List, a physical roadblock halfway down the street would be a truly terrible idea. A speed bump would be welcome!

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SaveFailsafe t1_iwjs5pz wrote

I really doubt they will install anything like that, but that's the way to stop drivers for real. We all know paint on the road or signs on posts do absolutely nothing to slow down a determined asshole.

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Scrilla_Gorilla_ t1_iwld1mz wrote

The police department could start issuing traffic violations again. Then over time people would learn you can't just ignore the laws.

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houdinize t1_iwld3le wrote

Maybe we should put more of those benches that say, “the city that reads”, at the intersection.

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Animanialmanac t1_iwjtw9p wrote

This is good news for that area. Thank you. How can we get this kind of help in our neighborhood? I drive by multiple car crashes every day by Caton Avenue and Benson Avenue in the southwestern part of the city. I have three pt patients from car crashes on my roster. The local leaders are gung ho about trucks trucks trucks yet do nothing to help pedestrians and car drivers. I believe there should be wider intersections and more traffic monitoring if there will be more trucks in the neighborhood from the new truck companies. I don’t feel comfortable walking around the hospital because of the numerous truck accidents, and incidents where trucks drive onto the sidewalks.

Is there a form I can complete to request a traffic study? I tried the 311 request that was denied because I didn’t have the support of the local group.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwla90u wrote

How long ago was the request denied? Do you still have the reference number?

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Animanialmanac t1_iwldw1z wrote

I have the 311 references numbers, multiple reference numbers, in my desk at home. I will send them to you, thank you for the help. Like I said the local leaders love the new big trucks, my guess is those companies make campaign donations. The pedestrians, cyclists and car users suffer. Even the infrastructure suffers, street signs knocked down, areas of Caton Avenue disintegrated from the heavy trucks. I have a file of the reference numbers I can share. Thank you.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwle0b4 wrote

Yes; send them to us and we can at least look them up.

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Animanialmanac t1_ixa2568 wrote

Thank you. I send the reference number through the messages several days ago. Did you receive it?

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routable t1_iwlbk11 wrote

Waze rep here, the “aggressive routing” is due to the No Turn On Red restriction at the light at Cold Spring/Harford. You could lift that restriction, at the peril of pedestrians (hint: don’t do this) and solve the problem. You could also (and should) make List Ave one way eastbound and put a No Left Turn restriction at the east end, effectively negating the usefulness of the cut through. The barrier option could have unintended consequences like impacts to emergency vehicles (and it looks low budget.)

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jspivak t1_iwkyq6z wrote

Thats just a candy cane…

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl894z wrote

Merry Christmas to the residents of List Avenue.

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RuthBaderG t1_iwkucv4 wrote

Thank you for prioritizing people over cars!

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl82se wrote

You’re welcome! That is part of our complete streets program.

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RuthBaderG t1_iwl8fpj wrote

When is the leading pedestrian interval pilot starting? I was promised one at 29th and Huntingdon a few months ago.

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bmore t1_iwl9xrc wrote

When your councilperson yells at DOT as consistently as Dorsey does to get this stuff installed. That's the only reason this is happening.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwlcw68 wrote

We do not like being yelled at. Please don’t encourage more people to yell us, it doesn’t help.

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bmore t1_iwlff6f wrote

I don't think anyone wants to yell but the only time we've ever had any long DOT promised installation ever occur in my community it was because we threatened to sue or complained loudly enough someone finally listened.

Trying to work collaboratively? Yeah. My community is doing that right now and is about to lose a $50k grant DOT wrote a letter of support for because DOT is over a year late on even answering emails when they were supposed to install their part of the grant already.

So, it's going to have to come down to being loud and mad again.

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No_name_Johnson t1_iwle7uu wrote

Unrelated to the specific post, but I appreciate you guys communicating thru here. There have been a couple posts that have been helpful/useful info.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwlecqm wrote

We’re working hard at being more responsive; as well as talking about all the good stuff we do.

We do a TON. But we don’t always talk about it enough. We’re working on getting better at that.

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RG_Viza t1_iwlato1 wrote

List avenue has become a giant bendy straw and can only be used for giant milkshakes now.

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Optimus_RE t1_iwl5xck wrote

Were any other improvements made in the area regarding stop lights? Often times city stop lights and intersections do not align and it backs up traffic tremendously throughout, so I can understand when people cut along side streets.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_iwl8rsa wrote

Stoplights timing is something we work on perpetually, yes.

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theythemworld t1_iwm6eq7 wrote

More tertiary streets should have this implemented.

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o00A00o t1_iwlmqax wrote

Cool post! Thanks for the update and communication, DOT.

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digglerjdirk t1_iwlyj36 wrote

I feel like Harford has been closed for construction at that spot for like 3 years now. Wouldn’t opening that road back up also remove the List Ave. problem? Or am I missing key info here

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Complete-Ad9574 t1_iwn9occ wrote

The upshot is- Because some people can't follow the rules or be nice - all must suffer the consequences.

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FrancisSobotka1514 t1_iwlyg0d wrote

So your closing a public street to traffic ,You know the thing that the roadway is intended for ? So lets just put up barriers at every enterance to the city so people have to walk and that will reduce accidents .

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Interesting_Loan_425 t1_iwn0sug wrote

Roads are for feet, bikes, and buses, not cars. You're right, it's a public street, so limit it to public transit.

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