[Talk-us] [OSM-talk] Newbie - questions I didn't find definate answers in the wiki or list archives

Apollinaris Schoell aschoell at gmail.com
Sun Sep 20 23:30:40 BST 2009


ther is a newbie list too. since this is US related moving the thread to
talk-us

On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Timothy C Litwiller <tim at litwiller.net>wrote:

> I didn't find a newbie list so I've been reading the wiki and this list
> for the last week.
>  I've been working on streets in and around Wichita and Newton, Kansas
> for the last week, it seems there has been little done since the tiger
> data import, as most freeway(motorway) intersections also connect
> directly to the crossing street. I've been disconnecting and making sure
> that the entrance and exit ramps match the yahoo image. and adding
> bridges to the appropriate way.
>

perfect, this is one of the big problems of tiger import. if possible verify
with GPS that yahoo images are correct. in rare cases they are shifted.
terraserver topo layer is pretty good too. But again sometimes misaligned


> But before I do to much damage it would be nice if someone could give me
> "constructive criticism" if and what I am missing and if I am doing
> things correctly.
> see this area
>
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=37.6777&lon=-97.3922&zoom=14&layers=B000FTF
>

well done. only error detected is some motorway_links  have the wrong
direction. routing will not work since the default is to add oneway to
motorway link.
this is another common error in tiger data.

and
>
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=38.0556&lon=-97.3127&zoom=14&layers=B000FTF
>
>
It's recommended to add also a ref tag to numbered interstates, US, state,
county highways. You have a relation already which is excellent. Since route
relations are not yet used in Mapnik and other tools  it's a good practice
to get them rendered.



> I haven't even started describing lanes etc. You current discussion of
> lanes on bridges is very interesting and I am assuming some of it also
> pertains to lanes in a city setting.
>
>
> also - more questions about roads in a rural setting.
>
> we have dirt and/or sand or gravel roads every mile - I think I'll put
> surface=unpaved and surface=dirt,  is there a preferred way to designate
> , like the UPS and Fedex men have maps,  of which roads are not passable
> when wet?
>

yes this is important info.


> then about about every 5 - 10 miles there will be a county road that is
> very rough pavement and between towns or out to the state or US highways
> there will be a better paved road,  then the US or state highway will
> lead out to the interstate freeway
>
> so help me make sure I understand these levels
> interstate freeway = motorway
> US highway = primary
> state highway = secondary
> good county highway = terterary
> or
> county highway = residential surface=paved smoothness=good
> poor county highway = residential surface=paved smoothness=bad
>
>
highway tag should be used to describe the importance not the  who builds
and maintains the road. US, state, county  highways can be everything from
motorway, trunk, primary, secondary, tertiary. If you want to include the
info who maintains a road use an extra tag and don't try to overload the
highway tag with info which doen't belong there.
see also the wiki and some of the resent discussions on talk about this
topic.



> graveled & sand road highway= track? surface=unpaved
> dirt road = highway= track? surface=dirt
>

yes this makes sense


> if it is not passable when wet is there something else to add or will
> surface=dirt be the key
>

don't know any tag for it but if you can't find one invent a new one.


> then of course once in a while there are roads that have signs "minimum
> maintenance" they aren't even good for bicycle travel - tractors and
> 4wheel drives are all that go there.
>
> you can add tracktype grade1-5 to add more details for tracks. there was a
long discussion on talk about a tag for 4WD tracks don't remember if there
was ever a conclusion on the tag name



> nearing a destination you might want a gps device to use the county
> highways in a route but certainly not route thru them unless you had to
> use them to get to a particular stop. and the gravel or dirt roads you'd
> want to not route at all unless there was no other way to get to that
> stop - ie the stop was not on a paved road. Is there something that
> would key that.
>
>
> this depends on the software for the GPS. since all OSM based routing
solutions are open source this can be easily chamged if necessary. Garmin
maps created with mkgmap have a default to prefer higher class roads


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>
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