[Tagging] [OSM-talk] Should we map things that do not exist?

[Roland Olbricht]

> One such example could be when a cycleway was created on top. [...]
> I would definitely delete railway tags if they would have remained till
> then although I am not sure everybody here would agree with me since
> there might still remain "traces" like some heaps of ballast stones on
> the sides.

I strongly disagree. In a mountainous region like my home region, the
cycleway then will go through cuttings and on embankments, making the
slope relatively flat.
Opposed to this, most elevation profiles are too coarse for that and
suggest substiantial gradients. If you go on a bike, then you will
appreciate that the way is actually close to flat.

Tagging this with extra tags is difficult because there usually is some
slope, and measuring it will be tedious at best, time consuming at
worst. Without a measurement, many fellow mappers will reject any
tagging - I'm not aware of any sensible tagging.

By contrast to this, it is pretty safe to assume that a way tagged with
railway=* is almost flat. Standard railways never operate on steep
inclines. And few or no operators care to construct huge cuttings and
embankments to flatten a cycleway.

Best regards,

Roland