[Talk-us] highway=cycleway or highway=path

[Paul Johnson]

On 06/20/2011 05:29 PM, PJ Houser wrote:
> If a way is used for both pedestrians and cyclists, should it be tagged
> highway=cycleway or highway=path with bicycle=designated? This is what
> the bridge path looks like -
> http://bikeportland.org/2005/11/21/hawthorne-bridge-gets-new-markings-673.
> 
> On the http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:highway%3Dcycleway:
> "The highway=cycleway indicates that the used way is mainly or
> exclusively for bicycles. Some consider it better to use highway=path if
> use is not restricted to cyclists"
> 
> On the discussion page:
> "Mainly or exclusively"
> 
> I can see from the history of the page that the wording was fought over
> last summer. But the end result is not correct (and indeed contradicts
> itself).
> 
> I'd have said it was more accurate to say that cycleways indicate
> corridors that are mainly or exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians.
> 
> Where they are used for ways that are mainly or exclusively for cyclists
> only, this should either be the norm for that country (as set out in
> access-restrictions), or be indicated by the addition of a tag foot=no.
> In either situation, an alternative way for pedestrians should be shown
> if one exists (this may merely be the footway implied by an adjacent road).
> --RichardMann <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:RichardMann>
> 14:01, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
> 
> 
> I'm sure this was discussed ad nauseum at some point, so feel free to
> point me to the correct thread.

This was also asked of me off-list, so I'll go ahead and repost what I
sent earlier for the sake of discussion.  All locations are in the Metro
Region, Oregon.

highway=footway would be sidewalks, trails and narrow walkways where
bicycles are restricted to walking speed (all sidewalks in Oregon),
banned (all sidewalks in city center) or otherwise geared primarily or
exclusively towards pedestrians at the expense of all other possible
users (when this is an entire street, such as found in the Rose Quarter,
then it's highway=pedestrian).

highway=path is a shared facility suitable for bicycles and pedestrians,
that allows or is a designated route for either mode.  Examples would be
most park paths, and the Willamette Greenway through waterfront park.

highway=cycleway is a facility primarily or exclusively geared towards
cyclists, that may or may not offer access to other modes.  Generally,
these have signage found in the Standard Highway Signs guide, and
pavement markings consistent with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
Devices for bicycle facilities.  Examples would be the cycleways along I
205 and I 84, Springwater Corridor west of where the pavement ends,
Springwater on the Willamette, Hawthorne Bridge (though these could also
be considered a "highway=path, bicycle=designated, foot=designated,
segregated=yes, oneway=yes", and portions of the Westside Trail for
cycleways that allow pedestrians; the Morrison Bridge (when it's not
perpetually under construction) as a cycleway that doesn't allow
pedestrians (they use the bridge sidewalks, which haven't been mapped yet).

One thing I didn't mention earlier is my thoughts on the Hawthorne
Bridge cycleways is that the pavement markings crossing the bridge
itself are of a nonstandard variety and lack concrete delineation
between the designated pedestrian space and the designated bicycle space
(though it is segregated as such, there's just no obvious edge to either
space, and the pavement markings are not standards compliant).

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