[Talk-us] [Talk-us-newyork] Highway classification guidelines for New York State

[Martijn van Exel]

Hi,

On 9/16/21 1:22 PM, Jmapb wrote:
> On 9/11/2021 7:48 PM, Minh Nguyen wrote:
>> It seems you're referring to this line:
>>
>>> Streets in urban areas that serve commercial or industrial districts
>>> and do not have a higher classification should also receive
>>> highway=unclassified.
>>
>> This is reminiscent of the rule of thumb that gets tossed about often,
>> something about downgrading highway=unclassified to
>> highway=residential once there are a certain number of houses per mile
>> -- specifically houses. The wiki has a much more convoluted definition
>> for both highway=unclassified and highway=residential, so I don't know
>> where that simpler formulation comes from; it might just be urban
>> lore. Personally, I've never been particularly keen about classifying
>> roads based on something that could just as well be captured in the
>> abutters=* key. You may be interested in a separate proposal for
>> highway=street that would do away with any distinction between
>> unclassified and residential roads. [1]
>
> Thanks, that proposal is interesting. Personally I'd prefer
> highway=local because "street" implies an urban or suburban context. And
> although the name is terrible, I don't think there's any need to get rid
> of the concept of highway=unclassified. I'd've prefered
> highway=quaternary though, and if I had a time machine I'd do some
> shoe-banging to that effect (after a quick trip to the 70s to copy all
> the lost Doctor Who episodes.)

I am the original author of the 'highway=street' proposal. I quickly 
realized that 'street' is not a great name for the reason you mention 
above. I like 'local' as an alternative.

When you refer to the 'concept of unclassified' -- are you referring to 
what you wrote up the thread: "Unclassified is for the most minor roads 
that link locations, residential is for public roads
that don't." Is that a definition you gathered from the wiki? I cannot 
find a specific reference to unclassified roads as 'linking locations' 
in the highway=unclassified page. My thinking (that went into the 
highway=street proposal) is that with highway=tertiary we already have a 
road class that performs that function, and there is no need for a 
higher granularity of connecting roads at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Martijn