What tagging scheme do we use for roads? Many roads 100 years ago were sandy roads.
I think that the OSM scheme I use, sandy roads being highway=track, may be insufficient. Many bigger roads were sandy. How to tag these?
That is an interesting question.
In Germany, road construction began in 1750. Before that date, a road was legally defined as no man`s (mud) area without legal property owner. Coaches were driven across farmland because it was impossible to pass the (mud) road. Road construction in Saxony began in 1786, after some farmer wifes dragged the king from the mud where his coach was lost. How to tag roads before road construction?
Switzerland has produced some road history booklets:
https://www.ivs.admin.ch/dienstleistungen/downloads-und-bestellungen/kantonshefte
In 1800, many cantons did not have roads (suited for coaches), but only bridleways (Saumwege) and footpaths (Fußwege).
https://www.strassenenquete.ch/
The Strassenenquete divided Swiss road network into six categories:
- major turnpikes (Bern - Zürich)
- minor turnpikes (yet to build, like Gotthard)
- major (unpaved) roads (yet to build)
- minor (unpaved) roads (yet to build)
- bridleways
- footways
For unpaved roads before 1750, highway=dirt_primary or highway=major_dirt would be appropriate.
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Mixing 2 aspects is basically never a good idea. There is already enough problem in highway= where the OSM model means OHM has to redraw it if the highway= functional class needs to be changed, when there are no other physical changes.
surface= should simply use surface= . If it’s undecided, it can be =road first. OHM can use it slightly differently.
highway= being a feature makes functional changes difficult, and causes the =*_link arbitrary distinction and deficits. Personally if I’m in charge of everything, I believe vehicular roads should be moved to a single highway= as in =footway etc.
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@FK27 would that be the same as
- major paved
- minor paved
- major unpaved
- minor unpaved
- bridleways
- footways
And I’m sorry to ask; what exactly is a bridleway? Were people allowed to walk on bridleways? Maybe not?
This is part of a map of the roads in the vicinity of my town Venlo in 1841:
It states: “Weg van de 1ste klasse.”
So there were four classes of roads.
Is the image showing?
Bridleway is a path that was historically designed for horse riding, but too steep and narrow for wheels. Especially in Great Britain, bridleways are defined by their traditional usage. In Switzerland, these ways are sometimes protected as monuments. People were allowed to walk on bridleways, provided they visited a church before, confessed their sins and got the holy communion. Sounds like a joke, but some bridleways were maintained and operated by monasteries.
Coaches can carry about 1500 kg with max. 5% incline.
Horses can carry about 100 kg with max. 20% incline.
Humans can carry about 20 kg with max. 40% incline.
major paved (mainly designed for passenger coaches)
minor paved (mainly designed for freight coaches)
major unpaved = paved 50 years later, connecting large settlements
minor unpaved = paved 70 years later, connecting small settlements
bridleways
footways
Four classes of roads were used in France:
“Im Jahre 1720 wurde in Frankreich für die königlichen Straßen 18 Meter,
für andere 12 Meter Breite vorgeschrieben und 1756 die Breite nach vier Classen bestimmt, nämlich I. Classe 14 Meter, II. Classe 12 Meter, III. Classe 9 Meter, IV. Classe 8 Meter.” (F.J. Baer 1878, p. 43)
14 metres implies a 4-lane road where two freight cars and two passenger coaches can pass simultaneously.
In Baden, Germany, standards were lowered in 1822 in order to save money:
“Im Jahre 1822 sind die Straßenbreiten für die I. Classe auf 24 Fuß, für die II. Classe auf 20 Fuß, für die III. Classe auf 16 Fuß, die Fußwege auf 3—6 Fuß bestimmt.” (F.J. Baer 1878, p. 52)
16 Fuß = 5 metres implies a 1.7-lane road where two coaches can slowly pass each other.
Sorry, I can’t see any image.
It’s weird. When I try to edit my post I see the image. But on the forum it’s invisible.
But how do you guys tag roads? Do you have a scheme?
In 1750, this road was the major connection between Germany and Italy. In 2020, this same way was considered too dangerous for bicyclists.
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