Plan road closures with the Waze Map Editor

The Waze Map Editor lets partners add road closures to the Waze map. Use it to accommodate planned construction, large-scale events, accidents, emergencies or natural disasters. When a closure is added to a road, Waze will not route traffic to it.

Approved partners can add road closures using the Waze Map Editor. Planned closures will appear on the map only when they are relevant. Real-time closures appear on the map immediately.

Video tutorial: How to add closures to the Waze map

Waze Map Editor Road Closures & Events Tutorial

To use the Waze Map Editor:

1. Log in to the Waze Map Editor with your organization’s institutional username
2. In the Search location section, type where you want to add a closure in your polygon. It can be a street name, a city, or specific coordinates.
3. In the top right corner, click the layer icon 
4. Check the boxes for Roads and Closures
5. Zoom in to the area where you want to add a closure
6. Click a street to select it. To select multiple streets, press the ctrl (Windows) or command (iOS) key, and then click streets to select them.
7. Click the Closures tab on the left, and then Add a new closure
8. Fill out the relevant closure info, then click Save

 

Report a closure via email

Send an email to [e-mail] and our teams will add the relevant closure data to the map directly. We accept data in the following formats:

As a spreadsheet

If you choose to send a spreadsheet, please ensure you’ve included the following information:

• All of the street names that will be closed during the event
• The intersecting street where each closure begins and ends
• The start and end time of each road that will be closed
• The start and end date of each road that will be closed
• Indicate if the whole road is closed or just one direction is closed

Your spreadsheet should resemble this format:

As a screenshot

If you would like to send the information as a screenshot, please ensure that the closed roads are marked clearly and include in the email body the start time and end time of each closure.

Your screenshot should look like this:

As a map image

Please indicate the start and end time and date that each road will be closed, and include all roads that will be affected.

Your image should look like this:

Report a closure via feed

Follow these instructions on how to upload road closures to Waze via feed.

Having problems with closures? Try this

Before reaching out to Waze, try to troubleshoot it on your own:

1. Check the problem on at least one other phone. 
   • Are you getting different results?
   • Are you getting different routes?
   • Are the closures only appearing on one phone and not the other?
2. If you had already driven through the road in question, delete this destination from your Waze history (Left menu swipe right delete) and re-test the route. 

If the issue persists, email [e-mail] the following information:

• Username experiencing the problem
• Date/time that the problem occurred
• Detailed description of the issue you’re experiencing
• Confirm that you completed the Troubleshooting steps (listed above)
• Answer the following questions for both the Live Map and the Waze Map Editor (if possible)
  • Description of problem location (include the segment ID, if possible)
  • Do the closures appear in the Editor, but not in the Live Map?
  • Do the closures appear in both the Editor and the Live Map, but not in the Waze mobile app?

 

Got questions?

How do Waze road closures work and why should I submit them?

From highways to county roads, the need for closures comes up often — whether it’s for planned events like a parade or a block party, or for unplanned emergencies related to crashes, utility work, or natural disasters. Submitting either kind of closure to Waze helps route drivers in your community around closed roadways, improving traffic and reducing driver frustration.

Waze also supports scheduled or time-based restrictions, which we sometimes call “partial restrictions”. Partial restrictions are used when turns or roadways are restricted on a regular basis at certain times of the day, days of the week, or for certain vehicle types. For example, a roadway in front of a school closes at recess each weekday for kids to have a safe space to play.

However, Waze currently only supports full roadway closures, not closures that only affect some lanes. Any delays caused by lane closures are automatically reported as Jams Alerts.

Waze only includes public roadways in navigation, so private or dirt roads will not appear in routing directions.

How do Waze users experience road closures?

Closures appear in both the Waze app and the Waze Live Map. Waze’s routing software will not use segments marked as closed when providing driving directions to users. Waze users see unscheduled closures represented by candy cane stripes and scheduled closures represented by white stripes. Closures submitted directly via your organization will include your Waze username, letting drivers know that the information came from an official source.

How soon will my road closure appear on the map?

Road closures submitted via Data Feed or the Waze Map Editor appear on the map between one to four minutes after entry. Road closures submitted via email may take up to two business days to be processed.

If the road closure you submit has missing information, it will be uploaded as a “Map Issue” which will then get routed to Waze Map Editors for review before appearing on the map.

Check the status of your closures by looking for an alert on the Waze Live Map or the Waze Map Editor, or download the Waze Feed and locate your closures there.

Can I edit my road closure after I’ve already submitted it?

You can edit your road closure by submitting changes to the source where you originally created the alert — in your Waze Data Feed or the Waze Map Editor, or by communicating with Support or your Map Editor.

How are roads reopened on the map after a closure?

Waze will reopen a road marked closed for any of the following reasons:

• The date/time of the closure you submitted has passed
• You update your feed or email Waze and tell us you have reopened the roadway earlier than expected (e.g. you finished a big construction project ahead of schedule)
• Waze’s algorithm detects significant levels of driving on a road marked as closed