[Talk-ca] Highway recoding

[Tristan Anderson]

So it seems like we're coming to some agreement.  The current Canadian definition based on that 2005 document should be replaced with something else that is consistent with the rest of the world.  Once we find this new definition, the appropriate wiki pages should be updated.

I took a look around the world and finally saw some consistency in how trunk tags are used.  Stewart's guidelines are basically correct, but I think I can hammer out a more specific description.  There are two types of roads with are both usually tagged highway=trunk:

(1) Limited access highways.  This is a physical description for a road that has some of the characteristics of a motorway.  They are often dual carriageways of fairly high speed.

(2) Highways connecting distant population centres.  This is a functional description for a road where used by cars and heavy trucks travelling long distances or between major cities.  Although usually two lanes, in more remote areas these roads may have very light traffic, be unpaved, or be slow.

In some parts of the world, like Germany, France and the eastern United States, all trunk roads are type (1) because long-distance travel is generally done on their dense networks of motorways.

Conversely, in large swathes of Australia and Canada, as well as in much of the developing world, all trunk roads are type (2) because type (1) doesn't exist.

The only country I noticed that doesn't follow the above scheme is Britain (actually just England and Wales), ironically the birthplace of the trunk.  The designation there is used quite liberally, including even short roads connecting small towns and quite a few of of 
London's city streets.  Just look at England at zoom level 5 and observe how unusually green it is.

I suggest using the "international" model, with types (1) and (2) above being tagged as trunks in Canada.  This won't change much as it largely coincides with how roads are already tagged.  The wiki pages can be updated accordingly then we can look at specific roads in BC and Québec!

Any objections?



> From: jfd553 at hotmail.com
> To: scruss at gmail.com; talk-ca at openstreetmap.org
> Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2015 10:08:44 -0400
> Subject: Re: [Talk-ca] Highway recoding
> 
> Thank Russel,
> Your description is pretty close of the one I had in mind (about trunks) before I found the Canadian definition was referring to the mentioned document.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Daniel 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stewart C. Russell [mailto:scruss at gmail.com] 
> Sent: July-23-15 08:44
> To: talk-ca at openstreetmap.org
> Subject: Re: [Talk-ca] Highway recoding
> 
> The definition of ‘trunk’ is a difficult one, if based on the UK understanding. Like its unwritten constitution, trunk roads in the UK are more on a "know it when I see it" basis.
> 
> Pretty much the only definitions I can think of that would be generally applicable are:
> 
> * a trunk road goes from one city/town to another.
> 
> * no parking at the side of the road.
> 
> * something above the urban speed limit applies (though there are often nasty brief exceptions, like a roughly 200m stretch of 30 mph that used to adorn the A80, dammit).
> 
> A trunk road isn't always dual carriageway. It can have traffic lights, roundabouts or (rare, in the UK) stop signs. Depending on its age, it may bypass towns and villages. Older trunk roads may also have all the usual roads entering it, while newer ones are likely to have on-ramps.
> 
> In summary, the UK definition is so riddled with unwritten exceptions that trying to apply it rigorously in even one province in Canada will be frustrating. And no matter what you do, you'll always get some rogue user that comes along and adds their own tagging. It's a sair fecht …
> 
> cheers,
>  Stewart
> 
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