Avoid part of route: How?

[Harry6]

How can I tell my TT to avoid a section of a road? For example, there may be roadwork or an accident, etc. I don't wish to rule out the whole road, just the trouble area.

My XXL 540 TM does this when it gets a traffic report showing a problem on part of a road. But I can't figure out how to mark an area to avoid.

Thanks

PS This is a follow on to my earlier, unanswered, post on "roadblocks"

 

[Rick F.]

Once you have a route planned to your destination (and you've reviewed it and see that you want to change it), tap 'done'. Then...

• tap the screen
• 'Find alternative'
• 'Avoid part of the route'
• tap what ever road you need to avoid...

...TomTom should then create a new route.

 

[Harry6]

avoiding part of route

I appreciate your reply Rick.

I don't wish to remove an entire road from the route. I want to remove just a section of road. For example, there might be traffic due to an accident, or construction, etc. on a small section of a long road. I want to route, or reroute, around it by telling the Tomtom to avoid that section.

In a sense, it is the opposite of a "Via". I'm puzzled because I would have thought this would be a very common use for the GPS. What do you do when you are driving along and you see a traffic jam ahead? Do you turn off at the next intersection? Turn left or right? I would have hoped the GPS would help with that sort of thing.

The Roadblock choices do not appear to work because they assume that the road I am on is immediately and totally blocked. So they do not consider taking a turnoff just a short distance ahead.

Am I missing something basic about how to work this thing?

Thanks,

Harry

 

[canderson]

Apart from Rick's suggestion to "avoid part of route", I can think of only one other approach. And I understand the problem you're seeing - sometimes you are trying to avoid a small section of a road that represents a long stretch of your route, not the whole thing - but the selection available to avoid is for a long run of that road. Sometimes you get lucky and that stretch is broken into segments for some reason, but often it's not.

If I encounter something like that in territory with which I'm not familiar, I'll wander off to the surface streets or parallel streets for a bit and then tell my TomTom to navigate to the location (done quickly by Navigate to > Recent destination) again. It typically puts me back on the original road, and since I've driven in the correct direction for a bit, somewhere further down that original road than when I left it.

 

[Harry6]

Detour / Avoid area

Thanks for the note Canderson.

I'm surprised that my Tomtom lacks a way to detour around a traffic jam I can see ahead. It does exactly that when it gets info from the traffic receiver. But it appears there is no way for me to manually tell it about a traffic jam ahead. That's unfortunate.

As you suggest, I can head off onto a side street and hope for the best when the TT brings me back to the route. Sometimes that might work well. Other times it might make things worse.

Instead of "roadblock" I think a "Traffic jam" icon followed by a few choices would be much better. For example:

1. Traffic is: A. blocked, or B. slow?

2. Jam Begins: A. Immediately, B. 50 yards C. 200 Yards, D. 1/4 mile away

3. Jam length: A. 10 yards, B. 100 yards C. 1000 yards, D. indefinite

Or do graphic choices - touching the screen to indicate the area to avoid, and choosing either roadblock or road slow.

 

[mvl]

Are you sure you did "avoid roadblock"? That feature should do what you want. After you do "avoid roadblock" the Tomtom should ask how far ahead you want avoided, and should avoid the road only up to the distance you select.

 

[daveoftruro]

The problem is you can't easily avoid an area 50 or 100 miles ahead.

In the UK, for example, the M25 motorway is often called the UK's longest car park, because of routine heavy congestion, and most drivers who didn't have to use it would avoid it. But not TT.

IQ routes has overcome many of these types of problems, and Live Traffic even more but there can still be occasions when roadside message boards inform you of traffic delays of which TT is unaware.

Being able to Avoid M1, J 8-10, for example would be a useful feature.

However, the best way around the problem at the moment is to look at the map, manually decide on an alternative, and Travel Via... Not the easiest thing to do whilst driving in heavy traffic at 70mph!

 

[Harry6]

detour / avoid

Thanks so much for your note. Part of the problem may be that I am confused about how the "road block" algorithm works.

For example, if I do the Roadblock command, then choose 1 mile, what will the program do?

It highlights the next mile of my route, beginning from the spot where I've issued the command. Then what does it do?


Thanks again...

Are you sure you did "avoid roadblock"? That feature should do what you want. After you do "avoid roadblock" the Tomtom should ask how far ahead you want avoided, and should avoid the road only up to the distance you select.

 

[daveoftruro]

For example, if I do the Roadblock command, then choose 1 mile, what will the program do?

It highlights the next mile of my route, beginning from the spot where I've issued the command. Then what does it do?
Thanks again...

It will, where possible, plot a route which avoids the next mile. On a single carriageway road, it will tell you to turn around and take you around the blockage. If you're on a dual carriageway or motorway, it will tell you to leave at the next exit.

This is a fairly crude way of getting around an obstruction you come across en route. It's of no use when you learn of a problem via radio or display boards of a blockage many miles ahead.

 

[warrenmr]

I have done this by using the (Un)block street option in Map Corrections. This allows you to temporarily (or permanently) block a specific point on a road. Worked well for me.

 

[Harry6]

I have done this by using the (Un)block street option in Map Corrections. This allows you to temporarily (or permanently) block a specific point on a road. Worked well for me.

Warren,

That's a clever workaround!

Now if only it could be done easily with just a few keystrokes...

and be temporary..

This is exactly the kind of functionality that should be built into the "avoid part of route" menu!

H

 

[dhn]

Just make sure NOT to share the mapshare change with the community, though.

 

[mvl]

There are two options:

- "Avoid roadblock" - This turns the upcoming portion of the route pink. For example, if you choose "1 mile" then the next mile of your route will be pink. When there's a pink line, Tomtom treats it as a road closure. It gets you off the pink road at the first opportunity, and will never make you use the pink portion of the route. This seems the closest to what you're looking for.

- "Avoid part of route" - This turns an entire street pink, and you can choose any street you want, even streets 100's of miles ahead. The only problem is that you must choose an entire street, not just parts of it.

 

[Harry6]

Dear mvl,

Unfortunately, "Roadblock " is ineffective.

"Roadblock" distances refer to the length of the roadblock, and the program assumes the blockage begins a short distance in front of the vehicle.

Suppose we see a traffic jam or construction a few hundred yards ahead and there are several potential turnoffs between us and the jam. Fifty yards ahead a turnoff leads to an absurdly long detour. Just beyond that is another turnoff that leads to an efficient short direct detour around the jam.

Unfortunately, "Roadblock" treats everything beyond a few yards in front of us as blocked. It does not look at turnoffs beyond a short, unspecified, distance in front of the vehicle. So it ignores the efficient route. Instead, it either sends us on an absurdly long detour, or else tells us to turn around and take some other absurdly long detour.

I think it would be much more useful if distances in "roadblock" referred to how far from current position the blockage begins.

Ideally, we should be able to select both the distance to the jam, and also the length of the jam.

 

[mvl]

Yes, there is no solution to avoiding a jam in the distance when multiple pre-avoidance options are available.

You'd need a traffic subscription for that.

If you have a traffic subscription, the Tomtom will evaluate the speed of the traffic, and decide whether it is better to go through/around it (or some of both), and if going around the jam it will decide the best turnoff for you.

 

[daveoftruro]

If you have a traffic subscription, the Tomtom will evaluate the speed of the traffic, and decide whether it is better to go through/around it (or some of both), and if going around the jam it will decide the best turnoff for you.

The limitation on traffic is that it doesn't cover minor roads, and it assumes they are clear. When a major road such as a motorway is blocked, thousands of vehicles flood onto the surrounding roads and totally congest the area within say a 20 mile radius. Drivers who hear of the problem on the radio will keep well away from the entire area, whereas TT will say, "I know a little road that gets around the blockage!"

There really needs to be a simple way of telling TT, "Nuke this area!"

 

[Harry6]

The limitation on traffic is that it doesn't cover minor roads, and it assumes they are clear. When a major road such as a motorway is blocked, thousands of vehicles flood onto the surrounding roads and totally congest the area ..........

There really needs to be a simple way of telling TT, "Nuke this area!"

The TT actually demonstrates ability to avoid specific sections of roads, as well as entire areas. Unfortunately, these features are not user accessible.

Intelligent avoidance of specified sections of road is demonstrated by the Traffic feature. Via traffic radio, it receives speed information on road segments in the area that are experiencing delays. Taking into account the new information on speeds throughout an area, it offers up reroute choices. It is taking into account reduced speeds / blockage on specified segments of roads. But traffic radio information is nonexistent for many roads and blockages. And besides, users may have their own individual reasons for wishing to avoid any particular portion of a road.

The TT also has the ability to avoid an entire area. In some instances, the TT will present an entire area that may be avoided along with its choices to avoid entire roads. But unless the TT has already chosen it, the user cannot specify an area to avoid.


The TT demonstrates its ability to use information about specific road segments or entire areas.

Unfortunately, the user interface lacks the ability to input that information.