[OSM-newbies] Chicane - or not?

[Paul Johnson]

Mike Harris wrote:

>     Another little tagging puzzle. I quite often encounter a barrier on
>     footpaths that is intended to allow access on foot but make it
>     difficult for cyclists - either to slow them down at a hazard or
>     actually to block access. It is essentially a 'chicane' formed by
>     overlapping closely parallel fences or walls that requires four
>     successive 90 degree turns to negotiate (left-right-right-left or
>     right-left-left-right). I would tend to tag this as barrier=chicane
>     but don't want to create a new tag unnecessarily - and there is
>     already a traffic_calming=chicane tag. Although 'traffic calming'
>     sounds a little strange for pedestrians (we're a placid lot!) is
>     this the better tag? Thoughts?

Reminds me of a cycleway crossing near a light rail station in
Beaverton... as originally designed, with a signal, there wasn't
anything particularly wrong with it.  Then they installed bump gates in
addition to the signal, which, due to only swinging one direction, would
regularly cause cyclists or wheelchair users to hit the gate on the
other side of the crossing in the direction the gate won't budge and get
launched from their wheels on the tracks.

Last time I went through it, I hit one of the gates hard enough
intentionally to knock it clean off the hinges.  I honestly hope that
hazard doesn't get replaced as it tends to trap people on a section of
track trains travel at high speed through.  Not sure what the propensity
of this region is for putting too many obstacles at crossings, it does
nothing to prevent stupid people from being stupid and goes a long way
in causing otherwise bright people to stop in a railway crossing...

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