[Talk-GB] Bridleway or track?

[Warin]

On 12/03/19 19:38, Martin Wynne wrote:
> On 11/03/2019 12:53, Devonshire wrote:
>> I have personally deprecated highway=bridleway|byway etc. as the 
>> combination of highway=footway|track|service and 
>> designation=public_footpath etc. contains more useful information 
>> both for map rendering and for active map users. Whether you wan't to 
>> do the same is up to you.
>
> Thanks Kevin.
>
> This still leaves unanswered the question of what is a track?
>
> The wiki refers only to its *width* as the deciding matter and nothing 
> else:
>
> "This tag represents roads for mostly agricultural use, forest tracks 
> etc.; that are suitable for two-track vehicles, such as tractors or 
> jeeps. If the way is not wide enough for a two-track vehicle, it 
> should be tagged as highway=path."
>
> Is it still a track if it is wide enough for such use, and clearly has 
> been a track in times past, is shown as such on old maps, but is now 
> blocked off for vehicular access and there is no evidence of current 
> vehicular use?
>
> Here is a bit more of the public bridleway which I posted previously:
>
>  http://85a.uk/blocked_track1_960x580.jpg
>
> Is this
>
> a) highway=bridleway + access designations (deprecated ?)
>
> b) highway=path + access designations (too wide ?)
>
> c) highway=track + access designations (no physical vehicular access ?)
>
>

Thanks for pursuing this Martin, causes thinking which is a good thing. 
I'll stay away from bridaleway as there are few around me and I don't 
often tag them so I cry lack of knowledge.

But path and track I do tag.

Path .. if something is too wide for a path then tag it track. 
Conversely if something is too narrow for a track tag it a path. Why is 
this important? In an emergency a vehicle may push along a track .. but 
a path not likely.

Lack of physical access is probably best mapped using the barrier that 
is used to deny that physical access, a gate etc? I have seen all sorts 
of ways of getting around these physical barriers, chain saw through the 
wooden post that has the locked chain on it, undo the gate hinge and 
pivot on the lock, remove the fence and drive around the gate... where 
there is a will there is a way. One regularly used by the fire brigade 
here is a bolt cutter through the chain and insert one of their own 
locks on it. The more desperate and urgent the cause the more 
destructive the action.