Is there any guidance or unique tags specific for minimum maintenance roads in the midwest? I would say these occur in a rural context with no direct access to residences. But, they are ‘maintained’ by the county. Would highway=unclassified and surface=dirt be most applicable? Or is there anything more specific to note that these are somewhat seasonal/condition dependent roads. Any sort of moisture and many of these roads are impassible. Pics below.
Thanks
I would use highway=track and maybe drop a node with a description of the sign for the track or add the sign’s info to the track itself as a note.
Definitely a road and not a track. Too wide for that and is not primarily for forestry or agriculture access. highway=unclassified and surface=dirt | unpaved are a good start. And actually that is probably all I’d personally tag with. If there are definite times of the year when it is closed then I think there are some seasonal access tags that could be used.
The best I’ve managed to come up with is note=Signed "primitive road" or note=Signed "summer road, no winter maintenance".
Hi ja5366, welcome to our forum!
I agree to
and I also support highway=unclassified + surface=dirt.
Additionally I’d tag tracktype=grade4 or even grade5 (depending on what to see on the ground by having a closer look) to indicate that this road has a very low development status and may be subject to significant changes in surface firmness due to weather conditions.
Quote from the wiki:
tracktype=*is primarily used in combination withhighway=track… but it has also noticeable usage on …highway=unclassified. This tag is useful to provide info about road quality, especially for unpaved roads.
winter_service= has winter_service:priority=
For the non-snow aspects, there was maintained=, so it could be extended to eg maintained:designation= for the authority’s codes (“priority” seems it can describe how different roads maintained to the same level are prioritized)
What does it give access to?
I would suggest that such roads be tagged either highway=unclassified (or highway=residential) or highway=track based on their actual usage rather than only the presence of the signage.
Here in Vermont we have what are designated as “Class 4 roads” which get signs like yours and where there is no implication of [or requirement for] maintenance by the municipality. That said, some portions of some such roads do get infrequent or periodic maintenance. This maintenance may be done privately in the public right-of-way to provide better access to a private dwelling or site or might have been a one-off by the municipality for their own purposes.
At least in my area the “Unmaintained Road” signs are more of a warning that there shouldn’t be an expectation of passibility, not that the road is impassible. I generally tag the ones that are regularly passable as highway=unclassified if that is how they are being used (with winter_service=no|limited if applicable) and the ones that aren’t normally usable as part of the road network as highway=track.
