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Bug Report: highway=road Rendering Issue #200

@julcnx

Description

@julcnx

Description

Hello,

I would like to bring to your attention an important issue regarding your rendering of OpenStreetMap unknown roads data (highway=road).

Screenshot_20240819-170702 2

According to the OpenStreetMap wiki, the tag highway=road is intended for temporary use for roads/paths that have not yet been surveyed.

This can encompass a wide range of paths, from hiking trails to major motorways.

When a particular renderer needs to display these roads, it is advisable to make them visually distinct from other rendered ways to avoid confusion.

Screen Shot 2567-07-20 at 16 49 30

For an outdoor-focused renderer like yours, there is no necessity to display highway=road tags. Displaying these unsurveyed or potentially erroneous roads and trails could mislead end-users.

For reference, Komoot, LocusMap, maps.me and now Strava, have already implemented solutions to hide these tags by default. We recommend adopting a similar approach to enhance the accuracy and reliability of your maps.

Sources:

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open the Overpass Query using this link: https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1OIG

  2. Zoom out to your area of interest and click "Run."

  3. Zoom in on each highway=road segment from the results.

  4. Copy the zoom level and coordinates, then locate them on the map.

Sample:

Actual result

The highway=road segments appear as a large minor road.


Expected result

Ideally, segments tagged with highway=road should not be visible until an OSM mapper surveys and classifies or removes them.

Official OpenStreetMap wiki guidelines

image

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