[OSM-talk] Dirt Roads in Mapnik, default render in OSM

[Lester Caine]

Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
> But I think this direction of discussion misses the point. The point was how to
> classify certain types of roads (unpaved connection and residential roads).
> tracks are a type of road set up for agricultural (i.e. local traffic of who
> works in the fields or forests or goes fishing) traffic. If there are other
> reasons for a road to be (i.e. connection for "ordinary" traffic, access to a
> plant or other technical installation) the highway class should be chosen
> differently. A residential road can well be unpaved in some parts of Germany as
> well, but that doesn't make it a track. In remote zones in Italy there are
> provincial roads (i.e. roads of the network maintained by the provinces) that
> aren't paved and are so narrow that 2 cars only at some spots can pass, but that
> doesn't make them a track.

This was part of the discussion on tracks and paths at the time. My own reason 
for wanting to distinguish what I will call 'unclassified' which do not have a 
tidy surface or are 'residential' or 'service' which require care is that there 
should be a clear demarcation between roads that are generally safe to pass and 
those which may not be appropriate in some circumstances. Personally I was 
caught out with an older satnav showing no change when going from a main A road 
to what was essentially a 'dirt track' ( at that time not even a colour change ) 
... it was still a perfectly legal road and there were warnings about single 
track with passing places, but I might have preferred to re-route if I was 
towing and I was already committed by the time the signage appeared. I think the 
real point is passing on the information that while a road may be part of the 
normal transport network, some may be less than suitable in some circumstances! 
Simply tagging 'unclassified' and merging with roads which are simply 
unmaintained by the local council while valid does not easily pass on important 
information while personally I feel these are 'tracks' and need to be tagged as 
such! It is different rendering that is the point here ... and iD is making this 
even more problematic by rendering everything with very similar styles even for 
footpaths!

( And this discussion should probably be on the tagging list, but I've still not 
added that to my catalogue )

-- 
Lester Caine - G8HFL
-----------------------------
Contact - http://lsces.co.uk/wiki/?page=contact
L.S.Caine Electronic Services - http://lsces.co.uk
EnquirySolve - http://enquirysolve.com/
Model Engineers Digital Workshop - http://medw.co.uk
Rainbow Digital Media - http://rainbowdigitalmedia.co.uk