[Tagging] Road center style

[Nathan Edgars II]

On 7/14/2011 11:52 PM, Steve Bennett wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Nathan Edgars II<neroute2 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> I'm wondering if anyone's come up with a way to tag what lies between the
>> two directions of a single carriageway. Of course the most common is a
>> single or double line, possibly dashed. But there are other treatments such
>> as a paved area that is functionally a median but is at the same level as
>> the driveable area, a center turn lane, and a center two-way 'suicide'
>> passing lane (if they still have those anywhere).
>
> I worked on this proposal a while ago:
>
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/Divided_road
>
> It died, because that's what happens to tagging proposals.

Hmmm. That seems a little complicated, combining separation between 
directions with passing restrictions, and concentrates mostly on 
physical dividers. I've started using center_turn_lane=yes, but have run 
into ambiguity where the center turn lane becomes a one-way turn lane at 
an intersection, and then reverts to a two-way turn lane on the other 
side. If there are no driveways in that area (or none which you can 
legally turn into), this is functionally identical to a standard center 
turn lane.

Note: the position I'm coming from is safety and related standards. 
Obviously a full lane between opposing directions is safer than a line, 
and some transport agencies consider it to qualify as a divided highway 
when working on a program of improving highways to four-lane divided 
standards.