[OSM-talk] on-road cycle routes

David Earl david at frankieandshadow.com
Fri Jun 15 18:45:24 BST 2007


Mike Collinson wrote:
> At 11:07 PM 14/06/2007, Alex Mauer wrote:
>> mike wrote:
>>> If a path is mixed use foot and cycle, e.g. The Avon Walkway, Bristol,
>>> what's the best method to tag this?  is it:
>>>
>>> highway=footway
>>> bicycle=yes
>>>
>>> or the other way around, or something else?
>>>
>> There is currently no good way to do this.  highway=footway,
>> bicycle=yes, is the closest approximation.  You can also play with 
> 
> When mapping combined cycle/footway in Australia I started doing the opposite (highway=cycleway, foot=yes, cycleway=track) and still do. Rationale: 1) When cyclists look at an OSM-derived map now and probably for some time to come, they won't know about the bicycle access part.  2)  I've never ever come across a separate cycle track that did not either have foot access or a pedestrian lane next to it; so in the reverse case, a walker can reasonably assume a cycleway is navigable and also that in an urban/semi-rural environment it is likely to be easy going without steps.  Any more thoughts to reach a consensus welcome.
> 
> Mike
> Stockholm

In Cambridge, which probably has more cycleways than any other city in 
the UK (though probably not Stockholm!), I've kept it simple.

There is nowhere here (or probably elsewhere in the UK) that is 
designated as a cycleway that pedestrians can't either walk on or 
immediately adjacent to (separated by a white line or kerb).

So I've just marked purpose-built cycleways distinct from (though 
possibly parallel to) the road just as highway=cycleway, and not 
bothered with the footway bit, taken it as read, just as one would with 
any other road.

Where a bit of pavement alongside the road is simply designated for 
cycling without any special construction (useless, grotty stuff), I've 
not marked it at all. After all, cyclists are allowed to cycle on the 
road, and we don't say bicycle=yes for all roads. I might say bicycle=no 
if it is a road (other than a motorway, where the restriction is 
implicit) where, unusually, cycles are banned (the tunnel on the new 
A505 Baldock bypass would be an example, though I haven't actually done 
this).

I plan at some point to add tags to mark where there are cycle lanes 
(part of the road), and may do the rubbish shared use at the same time.

highway=footway, bicycle=yes just seems the wrong way round. What you 
will see on the map is a footway with no indication that it can be 
cycled on, as usually you can't cycle on footways.

David




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