<div class="gmail_quote">On 1 June 2013 09:29, Michael James <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:m.james@internode.on.net" target="_blank">m.james@internode.on.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
There is a legal difference between a divided highway and a freeway in<br>
Australia, so if it is not actually called a freeway/motorway via<br>
signage then it really isn't one.<br></blockquote></div><br>Firstly, I'm a little sceptical of there actually being a "legal" difference. Can you point to a source that would make this clear? "Freeway/motorway standard" is a term commonly used by the RMS, but it is an engineering standard. RMS are labelling roads clearly not motorway standard as 'M' roads and v.v. The standard required clearly also varies between states, with what passes for a freeway in Victoria doesn't cut it in NSW, for example. There are "freeway commence" signs on roads that will not be labelled as 'M' roads (or even, in some cases, not even given an alphanumeric designation)<br>
<br>"<em>RMS appreciates that other sections of road that will be signposted
as the A1 under the new system may already be of motorway standard.
However, to avoid frequent changes between M1 and A1 numbering, RMS will
hold off assigning the M1 designation until sections of the road
between major town centres have been upgraded </em>."<br><br>So, the question is, do we want to use the engineering standard of the road to decide our tagging, or do we want to use the RMS 'M' indicator - because the two aren't necessarily linked.<br>
<br>Personally, I'd like to think we can find a way to use the roadway standard. For example, I think tagging the Harbour Bridge as a motorway (60km/h non-divided) is wrong.<br><br>However, I also see the value of adopting objective standards in OSM, so I'm happy to go along with the labelling that RMS uses, if it allows more consistency across the state.<br>
<br>Ian.<br>