[OSM-talk] Motorways and Motorway_link

[Richard Bullock]

> I stand corrected on the two direction sections BUT the examples you give 
> ARE
> motorway_links rather than motorway. Most of the links like this that I
> frequent have now been divided with a barrier. And a word of warning the
> 'Maximum speed' for a single carriageway road in the UK is 60 MPH. This
> applies to these links up to the 'start of motorway' sign which may not be
> actually at the end of the link - I've seen traffic cops with speed guns 
> on a
> couple of roads that merge into the motorway ;)
>
But motorway_link has usually been used to tag sliproads. These aren't 
sliproads - it's the mainline of the motorway.
http://pathetic.org.uk/current/a601m/photos/images/Dsc00055_jpg.jpg

The start of motorway sign is at the end of the link where it meets the 
B-road in the case of the A601(M) - and the end nearest the Walton Summit 
Industrial Estate in the other example.

The 60mph limit for cars on single carriageways do not apply to "special 
roads" - which is the legal term for motorways (and one or two other bits of 
road like the A55 at Conwy - where you'll notice there are "70"mph signs 
rather than the national speed limit sign). Instead, the "Motorways Traffic 
(Speed Limit) Regulations 1974" apply to all motorways - defining the limit 
to be 70mph for cars - regardless of whether it is single or dual 
carriageway.