Editing Roads Tips and Tricks - 1 - Bridges, Underpasses and Overpasses

In a few days the TRAC campaign started by @SholaIB will start again with the aim of adding as many roads as possible to Google Maps.

One of the problems often faced is that which concerns Bridges, underpasses and overpasses, or more generally we could say “roads that intersect passing one under the other, without touching each other, that is, without being connected to each other”.

The common belief is that it is impossible to add these roads, as the newly added segment will always also attach to the existing road.

This is not true, it is absolutely possible to draw two overlapping roads without them being connected to each other.

Just accept a simple principle: It is not important to know which road passes above and which passes below.

:point_right: What is REALLY important is that during navigation we are not asked to continue on a road thatis not connected to the one we are on!

I hope we all agree on this point, so let’s see how it’s done, and above all when to use this method and when to absolutely avoid it.

For our example let’s take any two roads that intersect each other.

In the first example neither of the two streets is in Google Maps. Let’s imagine that at the intersection covered by the yellow dot there is a bridge.

To have two roads on different levels we must make two edits:

1) draw and submit the first road

2) Draw and submit the perpendicular road

Result: The two roads will be overlapped, without any intersection point.

Warning: NEVER perform this procedure on intersecting roads. If the roads must intersect, insert them in the same edit or wait for the first edit to be approved before making the second one.

In the second example, one of the two roads is already in Google Maps. This procedure is a little more complex, requiring three steps and a lot of attention.

It seems impossible, right? Experience teaches us that if we draw a new road passing over an existing one, the two roads will be on the same plane, with an intersection point, as you see below.

To have two roads on different levels we must make three connected edits:

1) Delete the road that is already in Maps

2) Draw the road that passes over the existing one (which we just deleted)

3) Cancel the first edit, to restore the removed road

Result: The two roads will be overlapped, without any intersection point.

Simple right? The only thing to remember is to restore the deleted road before submitting the edit.

How do you do it? This is easy. In fact, the edit menu shows us all the changes made to the map during our edit. To cancel one, just throw it in the trash.

This concludes the first episode of Editing Roads Tips and Tricks.

We learned:

  • That we cannot connect another road to a road that has not yet been approved.
  • To create two roads that pass one above the other without intersecting.
  • To cancel a series of instructions in the editor by throwing them in the trash.

Do you have any preferences for the next episode? :thinking: If yes, write them in the reply here below :lock_with_ink_pen:

Have fun, Roaders :muscle:

34 Likes

Hi @ErmesT

Wonderful series. Much needed. Thank you.

Brilliant and creative solutions.

In the second example where one of the roads already exists it is unclear whether the 3 edits should be done in one edit or in subsequent edits. Do you press submit once or 3 times?

I believe the answer is one time, but clarification on this would be great.

In the first example we need to submit the first road and then make another edit before the first one is approved. = press submit twice, right?

Thanks

Morten

Ps your screenshots are so big that parts of the text and lines are almost impossible to read on mobile where zooming in is not easily possible.

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I started using this trick. It works wonders!

I was able to temporarily remove the sloppy drawn inaccurate roads out of the way when drawing the missing main road.

Cheers

Morten

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Happy that you find it helpful, @MortenCopenhagen .

I will try to add some more zoomed details for the users that are reading the post on mobile. I wasn’t too much worried about that because to use the editor you must be on a desktop computer.

Please let us know when the edit will be approved.

Have a fun by adding roads in Google Maps

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THIS IS BRILLIANT :heart_eyes:

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Thanks a lot, @JanVanHaver .

Nothing new, but apparently known only by a few

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This is awesome :star_struck::star_struck:

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Thank you so much @ErmesT for this detailed tutorial, but it seems one last example is missing. What am I gonna do if both the roads exist on map and they show themselves as intersection while on reality the don’t intersect?

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Thanks for asking, @SadmanRafid

That option is not mentioned because there is not a real way to do that, other than delete one of the two roads, wait for the edit to be approved and then fix it. But this kind of edit will never be approved.

If you have that kind of situation the best thing to do is to report the issue directly from the editor:

Select the road that you want to report and select “Other”, then explain the issue using the text box. It worked for me several times

Let me add a note for you, @SadmanRafid : kindly remove the Pin of Google Maps from your signature. It is a copyrighted image created by Google, and you can use it only if you have a written permission from Google. For more details please check the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions : “The Local Guides logo is a Google brand identity and is reserved for official use only. Do not use the Local Guides logo, pin, or any other Google imagery in any of your online or offline materials without expressed written permission.

Thank you

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Excellent points @ErmesT

I’m only now getting started, and this type of information will be very helpful.

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Excellent.

I just discovered the possibility to edit help the roads, and was a bit bothered about that one. Not entirely sure if it was just a connection sticking while under edit and it would fix it self when approved… Guess I should have dug around a bit firts.

Got quite a few edits still pending, many of whom I suspect might fail due to this issue as most have involved unmarked pedestrian routes and other cases where I’ve drawn intersections which shouldn’t be…

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Hello @ErmesT , Your post taught me a valuable lesson. In the past, I did not know how to draw roads in overpass situations, so I used to give up on adding roads in such situations. But, your suggestion helped me to add roads in such situations. Thanks for sharing your such a brilliant idea.

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You are welcome, @PrasadVR . I am happy that you found the post helpful

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Thanks for this, I’d naively thought that Google would have the ability to deal with roads that crossed each other and just join them by default, I’d tried to mitigate against this to some degree by trying to put a hard start / stop in place whenever there would be an intersection but having read this I suspect I’ve been wasting my time :slightly_smiling_face:

Another adjustment I need to make to try and beat this mysterious system in pursuit of 1000 road additions :rofl:

Thanks again.

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Sorry for being so late in this reply, @turbotapeworm .

In fact I was proceeding exactly like you when I had to add a bridge: Breaking the road on the interception. In the past it worked perfectly, but with the new improvements it doesn’t. Fortunately I discovered this procedure, that works well.

Regarding the 1K, I think with the next update of the counter you will be already over that target, as you have 995 roads now. Let me congratulate you in advance. Well done

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Thanks very much @ErmesT - I went over the 1000 mark today, a lot of progress undoubtedly due to a change in the way I added the roads after reading the great information here.

Cheers!

I’m still having some difficulty with ones that mean something to me personally as a user of them but overseas stuff in countries I’ve never visited are less of a challenge :rofl:

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