Temporary Closures and Notices
Learn how temporary closures and notices are recorded in a structured way in the Digitize Platform and made available for digital use.
Temporary Closures and Notices turn short-lived field situations into structured data that can be used before visitors arrive on site. They cover events such as blocked paths, damaged infrastructure, hazard spots, maintenance work, weather restrictions, conservation measures, or special notes for specific places.
Why they matter
- Visitors often plan tours with maps, apps, tour portals, and routing services.
- If current restrictions are missing there, visitors only discover them at a sign, damaged bridge, or impassable section on site.
- Early digital information reduces uncertainty, avoidable detours, frustration, and accidental use of closed areas.
How the data helps
- Entries are structured, multilingual, and digitally reusable instead of being only readable on a website.
- They can describe affected areas, paths, points, climbing rocks, access points, water sections, parking areas, viewpoints, or individual path sections.
- Maps, apps, tour portals, routing services, and other digital applications can use them directly.
A closure or notice describes a time-limited restriction, prohibition, special situation, or deviation from normal conditions.
Data structure
The following fields describe how each closure or notice is structured.
Geometry
A spatial reference is recorded for every closure or notice. Three geometry types are available.
Area
An area is suitable when a specific area is affected, for example a subarea, a defined surface, or a spatially delimited section.
Way
A line geometry is suitable for affected paths, routes, or path sections.
For path closures, the drawn lines are referenced to OpenStreetMap ways. This allows the closure to be output both via the associated OSM way ID and via its own geometry. This is especially important for digital map and routing services because it makes clear which specific path section is affected.
Point
A point is suitable for point-based notices or closures, for example at an access point, parking area, viewpoint, climbing rock, or individual hazard spot.
Name
A closure or notice can have an individual name. The name should describe as clearly as possible what the entry refers to.
Examples:
| Example | Possible use |
|---|---|
| Eiskapelle Watzmann | Closure or notice for a known place |
| Climbing rock XY | Closure of a specific climbing site |
| Path section to the hut | Closure of a specific path |
| Bridge on the circular route | Notice about damaged infrastructure |
| Northern shore subarea | Area-based restriction |
If no individual name is provided, the Digitize Platform automatically uses the selected reason as the label.
Time period
A start date and an end date must be provided for every closure or notice. The entry is valid only within this period.
The end date can also be marked as preliminary. This is useful when an expected end is already known, but it is not yet certain whether the closure or notice will need to be extended or shortened. This allows data users to recognize that the period may still change.
Some imported sources do not provide an end date. Because every entry needs an end date, the Digitize Platform uses a provisional date 30 days in the future and marks it as preliminary. If that provisional date is less than a week away and the source still does not provide an end date, it is moved forward again. This keeps the entry visible without changing it every day.
Type: closure or notice
During recording, a distinction is made between a closure and a notice.
A closure describes an actual restriction or prohibition of use for a defined spatial reference. It can refer, for example, to a path, an area, or a specific place.
A notice is information about a special condition without necessarily involving a formal closure. Notices can draw attention, for example, to difficult passability, damaged infrastructure, hazard spots, or other deviations from normal conditions.
| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Closure | Use is temporarily prohibited or significantly restricted |
| Notice | Information about a special situation or deviation from normal conditions |
Reason
A reason must be selected for every closure or notice. Reasons are stored as fixed categories in the Digitize Platform.
They can include nature conservation, infrastructure-related, or organizational reasons. Selecting a standardized reason makes it easier to process the data further in maps, apps, routing services, and other digital applications.
Description
Additional information about the closure or notice can be provided in the description field. The description can be maintained in multiple languages.
The description should briefly explain what is affected and what visitors should observe.
Affected activities
A closure or notice can be linked to specific activities. The activity describes which form of use the spatial entry is relevant for.
The spatial reference is always defined by the geometry. The activity complements this spatial reference and describes which visitor groups or recreational activities are affected.
Examples:
| Activity | Possible application |
|---|---|
| Climbing | Closure of a climbing rock |
| Cycling | Notice about a damaged cycling path |
| Hiking | Closure of a path section |
| Water sports | Restriction of a shore or water section |
The activity selection follows the same structure and categorization used in the rule logic of the Digitize Platform.
Daytimes
In addition to the general period, daytimes can be specified. This is useful when a closure or notice applies only at certain times of day.
Documents
A document can be uploaded for a closure or notice. This can be, for example, an official notice, an order, a map, or a further description.
Detours
After creating a path closure, detours can also be recorded. A detour is also created as a line and can be described with additional information.
If necessary, direction information can also be provided. This is especially helpful when a detour is useful or intended only in one direction.
Direction information can also be stored for the original closure where this is required for correct data display or use.
Delimitation from seasonal rules in protected areas
Temporary Closures and Notices are intended for specific, time-limited events or special situations. They are not intended to represent permanently applicable or regularly recurring protection rules.
Seasonal rules, for example annually recurring wildlife protection closures, breeding-season rules, or seasonal access bans in defined areas, continue to be maintained through the protected areas and rules of the Digitize Platform. There they can be represented as protection rules with a spatial reference, affected activities, and seasonal validity.
The distinction is important so that long-term protection rules and short-term current information remain separate and clearly usable. Protection rules describe the permanently or regularly applicable requirements of a protected area. Temporary Closures and Notices complement this information with current, time-limited situations.