Adding new tracks/paths (I’m a keen walker) is not too hard and I’ve done a few. But apparently I can only delete/remove tracks I created myself but not tracks done by others. The point being that more often than not nowadays I don’t have to add something (because OSM has already all those trails) but every now and then I stumble over a path that’s in OSM but not on the ground… sometimes because it looks it’s never been there or it’s now so overgrown that it’s become unusable. Occasionally a path is simply blocked for good.
How do I get this into (or rather out of) OSM? Do I need some sort of proof, pics etc?
In principle everything in OSM can be modified or deleted by any mapper - that’s essentially how we keep the map up to date. I’m not sure if you mean that you have been blocked by software, or that somebody told you not to delete other people’s work.
One possible complication is where a way is part of a relation - most likely a hiking route relation in the case of a path. If that happens I’d generally try to deal with the relation first, e.g. reroute it if that is what has happened in reality, and only then change the way itself.
The best course depends on the specific circumstances. I usually check the way history. If the path was added many years ago and I’m sure it has simply disappeared completely I would delete it. But I would also consider whether it was poorly located originally and might require moving rather than deletion. If it was added very recently I might try to figure out the source of the data, e.g. if it was imported from an outdated source, and perhaps contact the mapper for clarification.
If the path is still there to some limited extent I would consider adding tags such as trail_visibility to indicate its condition rather than deleting it.
I usually take photos to document this kind of thing, but mainly for my own reference rather than with idea of them being “proof” for anyone else. Then again, in the places I usually map trails, the original mapper is quite likely to be me 5 or 7 years ago, and I tend to avoid edit wars with myself!
All of these are very general pointers, if you’d like to link to specific cases people here may well be able to give more specific advice.
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If a path has become overgrown, there are tags like obstacle=vegetation which you could add. I’d also add check_date=YYYY-MM-DD for the date you surveyed the path and maybe a bit more info in a note=* tag and/or the changeset comment.
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There is also tag overgrown=yes – I first thought of that as doubling obstacle=vegetation, but now I think it is a fine tag to mark an abandoned|disused:highway=path that no longer can be observed on the ground and point out why the prefix.
@jonharri Regarding paths where “it looks it’s never been there”, I wonder which editor blocks their removal?
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Folks, thanks for that. To clarify I’ve not been blocked by any of the OSM editors (I didn’t even try to delete something), I rather googled as to whether I can go ahead and delete paths and found a thread here that said nope, only the creator can. Apparently that’s not the case.
Also, I am a very occasional rookie-type contributor so I’ve never really bothered with the intricacies of tags etc. I’ll have a closer look time permitting but for the time being my main objective is to make sure I don’t create an elaborate hike of say 20m and then a small but crucial bit in the middle doesn’t exist (BTDT). So if I see a path (or rather if OsmAnd, which is my go-to tool for that, shows me one) I assume I can walk it, never mind what the tags may or may not say.
Also, I’m not sure what OsmAnd would make of those tags, ie if it would spit out a hint that there’s a stretch that’s possibly impassable.
Anyway, I’ll make a note of future paths of that nature and simply try my luck. Thanks all for the help!
Thanks - can you link to that thread so that we can add a suitable caveat?
I can’t comment on exactly what OsmAnd will and will not show, but it certainly is the case that maps often show things that you are not allowed to access. This is a road inside a prison; hopefully no-one would plan a walk there because it is obviously not publicly accessible.
You may also get a different problem - sometimes people add things to OSM without having actually been there themselves, and sometimes this results in important details (such as how different to access something is) being omitted. However, in OSM you can look at who added something, and if they left a comment saying “I walked here last week” you know that they have been to the area.
I find that this hiking style for OsmAnd shows more “secondary” tags on hiking trails than the “official” styles that come with the app by default. E.g. it uses different colours for levels of difficulty as indicated by the sac_scale tag, and spacing of dots and dashes for the trail_visibility tag. So if I see very widely spaced dots I know that another mapper reckoned the trail was hard to follow, and set my expectations accordingly. I don’t know about the overgrown= tags though.
Naturally all of this only works if previous mappers set these tags.
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Seems like just a slim chance, but after re-reading your original question might you be referring to GPS traces uploaded to OSM? Public GPS Traces | OpenStreetMap
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Alas, I can’t find that thread anymore… it was just two posts, the answer with a link as to how deletion works and the statement that one can’t delete others’ edits. Sorry.
Thanks Alan for that link, I’ll definitely will have a look. And if the style description logic for OsmAnd is not too difficult and if I have a rainy day while out there (a given), I’ll may even try my hand and add something.
I will also look into the tag business and revisit the edits I’ve made and add some.
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Right, the style linked by Alan looks v interesting… and the rendering is just a simple XML file 
so easily enhanced/edited and re-imported. I’d so far not really looked into the .osf files ex/imported by OsmAnd… some interesting hours ahead!
Again thanks!
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