[OSM-talk] maplint vs. uncontinuous streets?

[Andy Allan]

On 4/26/07, D Tucny <d at tucny.com> wrote:
> The correct way to tag these is as multiple ways... A way should just be a
> continuous string of ordered segments in a single direction...

You know, I still disagree with this. I don't see why Y shaped streets
can't just be a single way. I realise that it's much trickier for
renderers to handle, but it isn't *incorrect* to be put into the
database like this, since it most closely represents what is happening
on the ground. Even if we had superways (which it's worth remembering
that we don't), splitting this into two ways still has no merit based
on the facts on the ground. (Superways would be useful for other
stuff, but they aren't a universal screwdriver.)

I'll continue to use the flexibility offered by the current data
model, until either the API is changed to prevent it or future
developments give me a better mechanism. And along those lines, can
people please refrain from saying that such techniques I and others
use are "wrong", "incorrect" and so on, and more truthfully suggest
that multiple ways are "suggested", "a convention" or even
"preferred", if that's what you want to say.

Andy