[Talk-us] Usage of highway=track in the United States (rjgambrel)

[Brian M. Sperlongano]

Thanks all!

I'm hearing a consensus that the standard documented on the West Virginia
wiki page (essentially; any dirt/gravel road) is outside of the national
consensus on this issue -- and until we hear from a local WV mapper -- may
possibly be written in error.  I've updated the highway=track wiki page to
document this apaprent consensus.

On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 6:31 PM Clifford Snow <clifford at snowandsnow.us>
wrote:

> Zeke,
>
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 1:47 PM Zeke Farwell <ezekielf at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> +1.  In Vermont we have more miles of dirt road than paved road:
>> https://vtrans.vermont.gov/planning/maps/stats
>> These should not all be converted to highway=track!
>>
>> I think it would be good to state on the wiki where the line is between
>> unclassified/residential and track if we can find it.  Seems pretty clear
>> to me that "good for most cars" = unclassified/residential, and "only good
>> for off road vehicles" = track.  But the middle ground of "fine for high
>> clearance vehicles, sketchy for others, might need 4WD, but still an
>> official town road" is less clear.  There are quite a few of these in my
>> area currently tagged as "highway=track", but maybe "highway=unclassified,
>> surface=unpaved, smoothness=very_bad" would be more appropriate?  I'm happy
>> to start converting roads like this if we have consensus and it's
>> documented on the wiki.
>>
>
> Highway unclassified around my area is used in rural areas as the lowest
> level of classification but above service and track. Often found connecting
> houses in business to cities either directly or via higher classification
> roads. I like to think of them as rural residential where the residents are
> spread out over long distances.
>
> The wiki has a pretty good definition:
> The tag highway=unclassified is used for minor public roads typically at
> the lowest level of the interconnecting grid network. Unclassified roads
> have lower importance in the road network than tertiary roads, and are not
> residential streets or agricultural tracks. highway=unclassified should be
> used for roads used for local traffic, and for roads used to connect other
> towns, villages or hamlets. Unclassified roads are considered usable by
> motor cars. Public roads of low importance within town and cities that are
> not residential may also be highway=unclassified.
>
> Best,
> Clifford
>
> --
> @osm_washington
> www.snowandsnow.us
> OpenStreetMap: Maps with a human touch
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