[OSM-talk] UK: Trunk-Primary

[Lester Caine]

Abigail Brady wrote:
> Oh, and also, the Primary Route Network is what I reckon should be 
> tagged as highway=trunk, ignoring the legal definition of trunk 
> entirely.  So we have for UK road tagging
> 
> 1. HA-maintained (trunk) motorways - all part of the Primary Route 
> Network: blue signs: highway=motorway
> 2. council-maintained motorways (these exist) - all part of the Primary 
> Route Network: blue signs: highway=motorway
> 3. HA-maintained (trunk) A-roads - those part of the Primary Route 
> Network: green signs: highway=trunk
> 4. council-maintained A-roads - those part of the Primary Route Network: 
> green signs: highway=trunk
> 5. council-maintained A-roads - not part of the Primary Route Network: 
> white/black signs: highway=primary
> 
> Distinguishing between 3 and 4 on a map would be pointless.   
> Distinguishing between 3/4 and 5 is sensible: these roads although they 
> may be maintained by the council, nontheless form part of an official 
> Primary Route Network which is promulgated by the government.  It is 
> this which determines the greenness of signs.
> 
> The weirdness here is that the roads marked highway=primary therefore 
> aren't actually primary A-roads, but nevermind that.

Actually there is no way for a road user to know what is a trunk road and what 
is not. The ONLY think that is defined in the highway code is the 'primary 
route' being green. The Freight Transport Association pointed this anomaly out 
when the latest round of 'de-trunking' took place, and the general response 
seems to be that the 'primary' designation still remains and should be used to 
indicate a suitable lorry route, which was part of the original reason for 
primary routes ( according to my belated reading :) I had always just 
associated green = trunk )

SO while 'trunk' is the wrong designation for some of the 'green' roads, it's 
the best way to distinguish them from A roads that are 'non-primary' and are 
'conventionally' rendered in red?

-- 
Lester Caine - G8HFL
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