Key:motorway
 motorway
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| Description |
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Motorway with associated traffic rules and access restrictions. 
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| Group: restrictions |
| Used on these elements |
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| Requires |
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| Implies |
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Varies by region |
| Useful combination |
| See also |
Status: in use
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| Tools for this tag |
The tag motorway=yes is used to describe motorways that have motorway traffic rules and access restrictions (e.g. cyclists and pedestrians banned). Depending on the country, this may imply various access restrictions and other road properties.
Usually, motorway=yes is simply implied by highway=motorway, and motorway=yes needs not be explicitly tagged. However, there are cases where motorway rules apply but highway=motorway is not used, for instance:
- Notably, motorway ramps tagged with
highway=motorway_linktypically have a part where motorway rules apply (after start-of-motorway sign or before end-of-motorway sign) and a part where motorway rules don't apply (before start-of-motorway sign or after end-of-motorway sign). This can be mapped by tagging these respective parts withmotorway=yesandmotorway=no. - Sometimes motorways have separate carriageways for buses that are also subject to motorway rules. Here
highway=buswaycan be combined withmotorway=yes.
Motorway versus motorroad
Albeit similar, motorway=* is not the same as motorroad=*: these are separate road types with distinct traffic signs and (depending on country) slightly different traffic rules.
Key history
An abandoned older proposal for this key proposed more extensive use of motorway=* beyond motorway links and also proposed a separate value for substandard motorways, but the key is not used like that nowadays.