[OSM-talk] sidewalks

[OJ W]

sidewalks in villages - what to do?

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.172898&lon=-0.524788&zoom=18

are they footpaths or are they road attributes?

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Talk:Proposed_features/Footway

(probably footpaths if it's at all complicated, since the paths can
make detours or take shortcuts relative to the road, they can become
cycleways [http://osm.org/go/eu6NCukm9--], they can go into
tunnels/bridges separately from the road
[http://osm.org/go/eu4qDpI_9--], they may become oneway, change
surface, and do all sorts of other stuff independent of the road)

How is routing going to know that you can cross the road if you're on
a sidewalk footpath and there's another one 8m away across a
residential road?

Should you connect them to roads at each junction?

Is it causing problems for renderers/routers to even add paths
alongside roads?  (their default assumption being that you can safely
walk on unclassified roads - which itself may be a controversial
position to take)