[OSM-talk] Bike / Pedestrian directions on the MQ Open sites

Paul Johnson baloo at ursamundi.org
Mon Mar 7 01:07:42 GMT 2011


On 03/06/2011 06:47 PM, M∡rtin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> 2011/3/6 Paul Johnson <baloo at ursamundi.org>:
>>> for motorways it is generally assumed that bikes can't use them, there
>>> you should look for bicycle=yes IMHO. For trunk roads (and other roads
>>> as well) there is also the tag motorroad=yes which prohibits cycling.
>>
>> As has been repeatedly pointed out, most North American states and
>> provinces permit bicycles on motorways and trunks, and where they're
>> not, they're explicitly posted otherwise.
> 
> 
> Last time I read a discussion about bicycles on interstates the only
> known spot where they were allowed in the US was some few miles on one
> rural interstate highway (where there was if I recall right no other
> alternative route for many miles).

That is the case in California, but it's pretty well established in
conventional wisdom that they're collectively little off in general,
being a rare example of a state that permits cyclists on a single
freeway, and otherwise hates on them as a rule.

In most states and the vast majority of provinces, bicycles are
generally permitted except on older sections that lack proper shoulders
or have exceptionally difficult-to-cross ramps, in which case it's
explicitly posted at the entrance to this effect anyway.  As a rule in
the US and Canada, all modes are permitted unless explicitly excluded
per the MUTCD.  Only 23 states and as far as I'm aware no provinces ban
bicycles on all freeways (all of them east of the Mississippi, and most
of them with Atlantic Ocean frontage), and in the states where they are
banned, it's posted at the entrance ramps to that effect if they want to
be compliant with the MUTCD (a requirement for federal highway funding).

Alberta and British Columbia actually have bicycle facilities built into
the design of the TransCanada Highway sharing pavement with motorists,
with signs, if not special over/underpasses at entry and exit ramps to
facilitate ramp crossings for cyclists.

> the wiki states for the USA http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Highway
> motorway = "Limited access freeway with interchanges."
> In my reading every highway which is not limited access should not be
> tagged as motorway, be it in north america or elsewhere.

Limited access refers to physical access, not access by mode.  There's a
limited number of intersections (if any), and no driveways (unless
there's physically no other way to get to that parcel).

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 262 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk/attachments/20110306/4ccfefa8/attachment.pgp>


More information about the talk mailing list