[Talk-GB] New user renaming highway=cycleway with NCN references

[Eric Grosso]

Thanks Chris, thanks Richard.

If we take the example of the Union Canal Towpath (e.g.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/222362355), it was originally a footway,
upgraded (i.e. resurfaced) at several points in time (but a lot have been
done in 2005-2006), so it became easier and easier for cyclists to use it.
Then it became recently a NCN route. But as Chris mentioned, it's not wide
at all so cyclists have to slow down when they meet with pedestrians. Thus
it's really a mix between a footway and a cycleway now, so it seems
difficult (at least for me) to think about it in term of footway or
cycleway as it's both.

If we tag this kind of way as a footway, the meaning would be, according to
the OSM specifications ((http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:highway), a
way which is "for designated footpaths; i.e., mainly/exclusively for
pedestrians". Is it the best option here as this way became a shared space.

At the moment, the different tags (in link with this discussion) used for
these ways are: highway=path, surface=paved, bicycle=designated, segregated=
no, width=1.75, ncn_ref=754 (Tobi added yesterday a ncn_ref in addition to
the associated relation). These ways are also linked to this relation (
https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/51479) with type=route and
route=bicycle. All these tags and association seem to reflect what this way
is in reality and it means that it stays quite neutral (or let's say
objective) for both communities (walkers/hikers and cyclists).

I read your diary entry about it Richard. I easily understand that it's
easier for data consumers (especially software developers but also GIS
users when they create a legend -- as many many cases have to be considered
) to deal with a tag which appears quite high in the OSM hierarchy, i.e. at
the highway level.

So is there still somewhere and sometimes a place to use highway=path (in a
similar context to the one described above) in a general context of "Please
don't use highway=path"?

Thanks
Eric



On 11 May 2016 at 06:44, Richard Fairhurst <richard at systemed.net> wrote:

> On 10/05/2016 20:59, Eric Grosso wrote:
>
>> What do you think? Do we, OSM contributors, tag all the highways part of
>> a NCN as cycleways? What to do when in some cases, a highway is both
>> part of a NCN route and a hiking route (e.g the John Muir Way)?
>>
>
> Please don't use highway=path:
>         http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Richard/diary/20333
>
> For a towpath I'd use (and I believe the general UK consensus is)
> highway=cycleway if it's been improved (widened, resurfaced) to shared-use
> standard; or highway=footway, bicycle=yes if it's still largely unimproved.
> And, as ever, add a surface tag.
>
> Richard
>
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