Road Closure Planning & Navigation
By Michael
When events (marathons, races, festivals, etc.) need to temporarily close roads for a few hours often the only notice drivers have is suddenly being unable to get to their destination when they happen upon the closed road. Often the police or event organizers staffing the closure only know their task and a site-wide map isn't available to help inform drivers what detour route they need to take instead to get where they're going. A service could be provided by e.g. Google Maps to create a planning tool that would allow the event organizers to designate where the closures would be, as well as other helpful planning/coordination features for attendees, volunteers, police, etc. And the benefit to the public would be the ability for the Maps Navigation to automatically route drivers around the event with a caution that the event is taking place so they know to expect delays and to take extra care.
The problem
I moved to a new city that seemed obsessed with marathons - running and cycling. I'd wake up one day to go to work and suddenly find seemingly every primary and known alternate road blocked. None of the staff or police posted at any of a dozen intersections I asked seemed to know anything that would be useful to me as an inconvenienced commuter, they all just knew their specific assignment at that intersection, but not which roads were closed or how to get past the route established for their event. What was an 8-minute commute became a 2-hour ordeal.
Open questions
I assume that events closing public roads need to file some sort of permit. The planning feature could be something that the relevant agency could require the event organizer to use to guarantee seamless coordination and greatest public benefit. The system could even be set up to export documentation that the planning agency needs to know to ensure that critical emergency routes aren't being blocked, for example.
Platform & shape
Lives in the Google Maps platform as a feature in their product. Web/mobile interface for event organizers to easily enter the event information about which roads will be closed and during what window, Maps Navigation should use this live "road closed" data when routing drivers to their destination.