[Talk-GB] Unclassified Country Road (UCR)

[Rob Nickerson]

Hi All,

Now that the Public Right of Way documentation [1] has settled down a bit,
I have had a chance to pick up some of the other comments received in the
last few weeks. One of which was on Unclassified Country Roads (UCR). A
quick google reveals that "UCR" is:

"An obsolete term, created by the Local Government Act 1929 and abolished
in the Local Government Act 1972, but still used by several Highway
Authorities. All that can be deduced from the term is that it is a highway
(including public right of way) maintainable at public expense, other than
an ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘third class' road. It is no indication that it carries
vehicular rights." [2]

The line about no indication of vehicle access goes against the advice of
Warwickshire CC:

"In general it is presumed that all UCRs (whether they have a tarmac
surface or not) carry public pedestrian, equestrian and vehicular rights
unless:

   - Anyone is able to present strong evidence to show otherwise;
   - Following a review of the evidence, the Definitive Map of Public
   Rights of Way <http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/definitivemap> shows a
   lower status; OR
   - A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) restricts use

" [3]

--- Question: ---
How would we tag them? One suggestion was as probably highway=track,
designation=unclassified_highway and motor_vehicle, vehicle, horse,
pedestrian tags as appropriate, but if the surface is good then why not use
highway=unclassified? And do we really need to mark them with the
designation tag if the term was abolished in the 1972 act? (which begs the
question why does Warwickshire CC use the name and waymark them!)

All feedback appreciated as always,

RobJN

[1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/UK_access_provisions
[2] http://www.gleam-uk.org/explanation-of-terms/
[3] http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/unclassifiedroads
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