[OSM-newbies] The classic U.S. gravel road

[john at jfeldredge.com]

So far, the only road that I have tagged as a track was a one-lane, unnamed, and poorly-maintained gravel road laid out in an otherwise-overgrown field, and intended for use by trucks maintaining a series of billboards along an Interstate Highway (a motorway, to use the British term).

-------Original Email-------
Subject :Re: [OSM-newbies] The classic U.S. gravel road
From  :mailto:rwelty at averillpark.net
Date  :Thu Jan 06 13:37:24 America/Chicago 2011


On 1/6/11 2:23 PM, Charlotte Wolter wrote: Hello everyone,
 
         In the U.S. most rural and some suburban areas have mostly two-lane gravel roads. These are not tracks. They are regularly maintained, usually by the county. They often follow the one-mile grid lines common in the United States.
         However, I haven't been able to find an equivalent in OSM tagging. They are not tracks, which implies something opportunistic and not maintained by government. The photo accompanying "unclassified" shows a narrow paved road like many rural roads I have seen in the U.K. But, these are not narrow--they usually are at least two lanes wide--and they are not paved.
         So, how should I tag them, or do we need something new for the United States?
 i generally use unclassified (or sometimes residential if there is a lot of
 housing) with surface=gravel. set maxspeed as appropriate.
 
 i would only use track for an unnamed road, most of the gravel roads
 have names or street numbers in the US. take a look at the road grid
 in rural Iowa sometime. almost all gravel, heavily used and maintained,
 all numbered/named.
 
 richard
 
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-- 
John F. Eldredge -- john at jfeldredge.com
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