Changeset: 57754161
reclassifying highways from clay_c vandalism
Closed by UAN51
Tags
changesets_count | 3091 |
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created_by | iD 2.7.1 |
host | https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit |
imagery_used | Mapbox Satellite |
locale | en-US |
Discussion
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Comment from Andrew Matheny
Hi there-
Two things:
First, could you explain why this section of the highway should be upgraded to highway=motorway when it only connects a trunk highway to a primary highway?In the US, highway=motorway tagging is (with few rare exceptions) typically reserved for either highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System or highway=trunk ways that pass through major urban areas where a major highway (usually US- prefix) functions as a motorway for commuters. Beyond that, state highways
are usually (but not always) tagged with highway=primary (or in some cases, highway=trunk) because the ease of access usually doesn't change that much to warrant a motorway tag. It also helps them render consistently across styles, since motorways are given priority with large-scale rendering (which would make this segment render by itself rather than being part of a coherent network).Second, could you explain what about clay_c's changeset is vandalism? This user has over 5,900 changesets and the edits are part of a MapRoulette challenge that has been set up by the community to reclassify segments of highways that have been improperly upgraded to motorway. It seems like at least commenting on the changeset to foster a discussion and give the other user an opportunity to respond would be the best step here, rather than reverting the changeset without first contacting the user.
Thanks!
Andrew
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Comment from Baloo Uriza
I also agree this looks like a clear case of trunk.
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Comment from UAN51
Hello Andrew,
This section of MO 13 should be a motorway (aka freeway) because it has met the requirements to be a freeway. This section of MO 13 has no at-grade intersections (with the exceptions of the termini), has a median, and has a high speed limit. Freeways are not required to be part of the Interstate or U.S. highway system. AASHTO defines freeways as “arterial highways with full control of access. They are intended to provide for high levels of safety and efficiency in the movement of large volumes of traffic at high speeds. With full control of access, preference is given to through traffic by providing access connections with selected public roads only and by prohibiting crossings at grade and private driveway connections” found in FHWA's Freeway Management and Operations Handbook. It is not required that freeways are connected to other freeways. Does this 7 mile portion of MO 13 function like a freeway? Yes it does. It's a freeway between Lexington and Richmond. Does this stretch of MO 13 have random at-grade intersections in between exits? No. Another thing, most US highways are tagged primary unless it's a 4+ lane expressway (trunk) or part of it is freeway (motorway). State routes are secondary unless part of NHS or carry high volume traffic (primary) or expressway (trunk) or freeway (motorway). Next thing, number of changesets does not relate to knowledge of roadways. I think the "Check Motorway Upgrade" in MapRoulette needs to be reconsidered. It seems that the entire community have different definitions of what a motorway (aka freeway) is. I am basing the definition of freeway from AASHTO and FHWA. I did DM clay_c, but he took too long to respond. If you have any questions or comments, please respond in this changeset or DM me.
-UAN51 -
Comment from Baloo Uriza
Generally speaking, changeset comments are the best way to contact someone regarding a specific change, plus keeps the whole thing out in the light for others to pick up on.
My concerns with this is that OpenStreetMap isn't the AASHTO, and with this transitioning cleanly into surface roadways on either ends, this acts more like a grade separated portion of Spartan Drive south of MO 10 (and especially with it discontinuing quickly after US 24), or a first phase of upgrading the route to a freeway later. Once they upgrade the MO 13/10 interchange and extend the MO 13 interchange, yeah, motorway it then. You say it has no intersections, yet right there, you have one at Walmart Avenue.
Trunk fills that nice grey area that things like MO 10 itself, the section of MO 13 that is the subject of this changeset, and other "freeway like, but not quite all the way there" objects.
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Comment from UAN51
Even though OpenStreetMap is not the AASHTO, keep in mind that the government owns all of the roads and highways. A portion of our tax dollars go to building and maintaining all roads and highways in the USA. OpenStreetMap doesn't own these roads or highways. Walmart Drive is the endpoint of the freeway; I didn't say north of Walmart Drive was freeway. Between Walmart Drive and US 24, there are no at-grade intersections. Like you said, this portion of MO 13 does seem like it is a first-phase of a freeway between I-70 and Richmond. It is preferred to keep this stretch of MO 13 as motorway since it meets the requirements. Plus, it would help Richmond and Lexington with economic development. MO 10 to the north of this segment is not a motorway because it is not a divided highway.
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Comment from Baloo Uriza
What AASHTO or MODOT consider it is not the determining factor for OpenStreetMap when it comes to the highway=* tag. Right now, I don't believe this is a clear enough case of motorway to justify the tag. Eliminate the intersection, slap on a continuously flowing interchange at MO 10 and don't drop to single carriageway at the south end, and yeah, that's a motorway. It's got the future potential to be motorway, but for now it really looks like more of a trunk.
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Comment from UAN51
If AASHTO, FHWA, or MoDOT does not determine the highway=* tag of a stretch of a road or highway, then what does? OpenStreetMap Wiki says that motorways are Interstate, Freeway, or a divided highway with no at-grade intersections (Source --> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_Road_Classification) while at-grade intersections are endpoints of the motorway. The Wiki seemingly does not go against FHWA's or AASHTO's definition of a freeway/motorway. Also, why downgrade this stretch to a trunk highway when it qualifies for a motorway/freeway?
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Comment from Baloo Uriza
It has an at grade intersection, though. Walmart Avenue.
Looking through the wiki, it appears that some pages have been gamed a bit away from where things have largely settled in regards to how trunk is typically used in the United States, and various pages aren't in agreement on this anymore. In practice, anything that hits Interstate standards or close to it, and doesn't go to single carriageway at either end, would be a motorway. Less than that but otherwise, would be a trunk.
I honestly can't tell anything about MO13 that's different than MO 10 except they slapped down a dozen or so kilometers of a second carriageway with plans to expand later as funding becomes more available.
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Comment from UAN51
Walmart Drive is an endpoint of the freeway (as in that's where the freeway ends which I said already). The wiki page I linked you is part of an organization called WikiProject United States. They based their standards off of the US administration; so should all of users editing in the United States. If you or the others in the OpenStreetMap community don't like FHWA's definition of a freeway, go complain to them or complain to AASHTO. You and I don't own the highways and roads in the United States; you and I don't determine the definition of roads and its entities in the United States; you and I don't determine the street name or the highway number of a road; the government determines all of that. I'm basing my edits off of how the US government defines roads and so should others. Single carriageway at either end doesn't determine motorway vs trunk; no government agency said that. Show me what OSM Wiki page said that; you gave me no quotes and/or no links to sources. At least I quoted from AASHTO/FHWA and linked you to an OSM Wiki page that agrees with it. MO 13 has met the requirements (divided highway and no at-grade intersections except at endpoints) and MO 13 functions as a motorway/freeway so it qualifies to be a freeway between Walmart Drive and US 24.
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Comment from Baloo Uriza
Sorry, intersections even at the end (and going to single carriageway also counts) still counts as an intersection and disqualifies it as a motorway. It wasn't vandalism to change it to trunk, and the government classification doesn't count.
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Comment from Andrew Matheny
Thanks for the detailed response.
I certainly see the logic in your thought process for why this should be a motorway, but the problem with using AASHTO/FHWA/any other government or industry standards—or even government planning documents—is that their functional classification system follows certain definitions based on their own goals and objectives: namely thoroughfare planning, traffic modeling, and right-of-way management. They also tend to follow those definitions strictly because they're maintaining an "authoritative" data set in a large organization and the classification can determine everything from how they prioritize improvements down to right-of-way management when they're reviewing permit applications for curb cuts onto these highways.
On the other hand, we have some slightly different goals and objectives in OSM. Our functional classification system is based not only on the physical or functional (in an engineering sense) characteristics of the highway, but also a) how it fits in with the hierarchy of the road network and its relative importance, and b) working with a standardized tagging system in a global dataset. When I look at this stretch of highway on aerial imagery, I agree with you that *physically* that stretch looks no different than some of the other freeways in rural areas that have a motorway tag. But when we zoom out and see its place in a network—connecting a trunk to a primary, or more precisely, just a dual-carriageway split of a primary highway—it's clear that this segment's place in the hierarchy is equal to the segments it connects to; in this case, primary or trunk. It's also clear that the importance of this segment is at least equal to that of the ones it connects to, but isn't greater (in other words, tagging this as motorway makes it seem as if people travel on US-24 or MO-10 to get to MO-13, when the reality is MO-13 is the connector between those two important highways)
You can get a sense of what I mean at a visual level by zooming out to level 10, and you'll see that the Mapnik style treats this an important highway and renders the "MO 13" ref sign even though none of the other segments of the highway are signed (and rightfully so). This is going to be true in almost every style that uses OSM data, since motorways are seen as the most important roadways and are rendered and labeled at higher zoom levels.
Just to give you another example where OSM standards differ from some of the 'official' (for lack of a better term) functional classifications, in the US we typically tag collectors with highway=tertiary. You often won't find them designated as "collectors" on a thoroughfare plan, but we can tell it's a collector based on the fact that it's the only street that connects the residential streets in a neighborhood to the nearby arterial roadways. From the OSM perspective, tagging a street that runs from an arterial (highway=secondary or primary) to residential with a tertiary makes sense in the hierarchy
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Comment from UAN51
@Paul Johnson On a larger scale, I-35 ends at intersections and goes to a city street. I know that I-35 has connections with other Interstates and is an Interstate itself, but I'll let you think about this.
@Andrew Matheny It's clear that there is a mix of opinions on how all roads are being tagged in OpenStreetMap. Your position makes sense only for rendering purposes, but I don't see any of this documented on any Wiki page (unless you can show me). Let's talk with WikiProject United States members since they created the wiki page that you and others don't agree (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_Road_Classification). I'm not a member of WikiProject United States so I'm not the guy to talk to. Also when I was talking months ago to a different user about HFCS maps, they told me how HFCS maps are inaccurate representations of roads and pointed me to this (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_Road_Classification).
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Comment from Baloo Uriza
I 35 probably should be a trunk north of the MN 194 interchange and south of Loop 20 as well. The segment between those two interchanges would be a motorway. MO 13 has no such major interchanges. It's pretty much the same character as long stretches of US 75 in Oklahoma.
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Comment from UAN51
You've gone too far. Interstates are motorways with NO EXCEPTIONS. You've absolutely disregarded everything I've said up to this point which is unacceptable. I've made my points as clear as possible; I've backed it up with documentation while you haven't. Freeways can end at an intersection. Stop making up your rules that contradict FHWA and WikiProject United States. You have a problem with that? Go complain to WikiProject United States or FHWA. Have a nice day.
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Comment from maxerickson
I've upgraded the wiki:
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/United_States_Road_Classification#Motorway
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Comment from UAN51
maxerickson, your actoin raises three points/questions: 1.) Did you write that because two random people said that? Is this to directly attack me? 2.) Did you discuss with members of WikiProject United States before updating that wiki page? 3.) Because Andrew and Paul are mapping things that were previously undocumented, does that mean they were wrong the whole time? Something's ethically wrong with this situation.
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Comment from maxerickson
I wrote it because I believe it. It's not an attack on anybody. No, I didn't discuss it with anyone, but no one who wrote anything there previously bothered to discuss it with me either.
It may seem absurd that I'm pointing at my unilateral change to the wiki as an argument to justify a particular way of mapping, but that's pretty much the situation with any use of the wiki as justification for a particular way of mapping, it's likely to reflect the views of whoever last edited the page.
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Comment from UAN51
I suggest you discuss with the people of WikiProject United States (and perhaps other US mappers) with your propose change to the Wiki page. Changing the Wiki page without discussion will only make this situation worse because its unethical. This almost seems to be a dictatorship. Andrew and Paul did have undocumented practices previously; I had documented support previously (until you changed it).
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Comment from maxerickson
Please look at the edit history of the page. There's no group of people behind it, it's mostly what one person said 9 years ago.
The way I understand 'wiki', instead of discussing my proposed changes at length, I can just make them and then if there is too much disagreement they can be removed. That's part of why there is a history feature.
In any case, the 5 people that have edited the page in the past do not have more say over US highway tagging than the broader US community.
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Comment from UAN51
Top of page says "Part of WikiProject United States" (most likely part of OSM US) if you can't read. What you edited does not represent the OSM community; that only represents three out of million editors. Discussion with other US mappers is the only way to resolve this. I also forgot to mention, why do you believe what you posted on the wiki?
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Comment from maxerickson
I think it is a poor use of the highway= tag to assign it based purely on physical features rather than using it to provide context. Short upgraded segments have better physical features but really are part of a lower priority road. Sometimes a road plays a role that it is underbuilt to perform; it should still get a higher priority tag if it is a more important road.
Changing the road classification for a single bridge (like on US 24 south of here) is a bigger issue to me than whether this particular segment is a motorway or not.
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Comment from iandees
Hi friends! Let's take this discussion out of the changeset comments and into a more public place. What do you think about posting a question to the talk-us mailing list? There are also several folks on the OSM US Slack that would be happy to talk through this.
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Comment from Jack the Ripper
I am looking forward to this conversation continuing somewhere, because I have several questions and comments to make.
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Comment from UAN51
Anywhere that promotes more people to participate in the discussion and convenient would work.
Ways (12)
- 544938831, v4
- 544938833, v4
- MO 13 (544944398), v3
- MO 13 (544942010), v4
- MO 13 (544944399), v3
- MO 13 (544944394), v3
- 544944392, v3
- 544944393, v3
- MO 13 (544944395), v2
- MO 13 (544944396), v2
574682185, v2574682186, v2
Relations (1)
Nodes (7)
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