Should narrow roads that are too small for cars still be tagged as minor roads?

[julcnx]

@osmuser63783

And then there is the issue that service=alley has two documented meanings that are quite different from one another. Usage (1) is uncontroversial, a service road providing rear access to properties. Usage (2) is more controversial, a narrow urban street that provides access to the front of buildings. Other mappers would just use residential with lanes=1 for this case. A forum poll had a perfect 50:50 split.

(3) Another debated use of service=alley started up in this post, specifically for ways too narrow for most 4-wheel vehicles but still legally allowing small motorized ones like motorcycles, rickshaws and micro car. While these pathways are rare in Europe, they’re really common in Asia.

Some people think all motorized ways should be classified based on their main function, regardless of width, while others think this should only apply to motorcars and larger vehicles. There’s no clear consensus on this either.

However, I’m not convinced that (2) and (3) should share the same tag. @dieterdreist initially proposed this with (3) in mind, but I agree that in terms of naming, highway=alleyway fits better to solve (2) as you suggested.