Proposal:Motorway classifications
| Motorway classifications | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposed (under way) |
| Proposed by: | Flap Slimy Outward |
| Tagging: | highway=trunk;primary;secondary;tertiary + motorway=yes
|
| Applies to: | 
|
| Definition: | A motorway's importance in the road network. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2025-08-15 |
| RFC start: | 2025-10-22 |
Proposal
After reading through this wiki, I learned that roads are classified according to their importance in the road network. However, there is one notable exception: highway=motorway, which is applied based on the highway=*'s physical characteristics regardless of its importance. I propose that we tag them based on their importance (like normal) and add motorway=yes.
This should be used on ways.
Rationale
Adding importance tags to highway=motorway can be useful to data consumers and editors because, previously, any highway=* that was almost a highway=motorway was classified as highway=trunk, even if the highway=* does not qualify as a trunk road. This was remedied by expressway=yes and downgrading unnecessary trunk roads to highway=primary. I think motorways deserve similar treatment because some users, myself included, might unknowingly upgrade the end of a motorway (classified as highway=primary and expressway=yes) to highway=trunk. Basically, would it make sense for a highway like that to be trunk or primary, if the motorway wasn't classified as highway=motorway?
This would also be consistent with tagging expressway=yes alongside a highway's importance in the road network.
Tagging
Tag the OSM-way with motorway=yes and either highway=trunk, highway=primary, highway=secondary, or highway=tertiary. Do not tag highway=motorway with motorway=yes (because that's implied).
Examples
The motorways in the Las Vegas Valley have an older tagging scheme (highway=motorway + highway:motorway=*). The former could be replaced with motorway=yes, while the latter with highway=*.
Rendering example
I propose something similar to the German Style. In Carto, motorways are red, trunk roads are red-orange, primary roads are orange, and secondary roads are yellow. I'm thinking of having a purple stripe at the center of the way.
Features/Pages affected
highway=motorwaywould (basically) be replaced withmotorway=yeshighway:motorway=*(older scheme) will be deprecated/removed
External discussions
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page.