Tag:highway=motorway

highway = motorway
Description
High capacity highways designed to safely carry fast motor traffic.
Rendering in OSM Carto
Group: Highways
Used on these elements
Implies
motor_vehicle=yes bicycle=no foot=no oneway=yes surface=paved
Useful combination
name=* ref=* oneway=yes lanes=* destination=* toll=yes
Status: de facto
highway=motorway $1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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The tag highway=motorway is used to identify the highest-performance roads within a territory.

Typically highway=motorway should be used only on roads with control of access, or selected roads with limited access depending on the local context and prevailing convention.

Generally roads with control of access are proclaimed in government documents, and have an official status as a controlled access road, sometimes this can include the term motorway, freeway or expressway among others in the road name. These kinds of roads usually have a special designation by the law, with a set of laws specifically applied on them. Generally some restrictions are placed on the kind of vehicles or traffic which can be on roads which should be classed as highway=motorway, such as no pedestrians, bicycles, livestock, horses and so on.

Selected limited access roads which can be classed as motorways include those that:

• Generally resemble a controlled access road and must be free from intersection controls (such as traffic-signals, rotaries and roundabouts, and stop signs or stop markings);
• Typically have at least two lanes in each traffic direction with some degree of separation;
• Have access roads only for servicing purposes, such as a limited number of driveways serving non-residential property, service roads to infrastructure, or rest-area roads or bays, which may be more typical in regional or rural settings

For roads which do not meet the above requirements consider using highway=trunk. See Highway:International equivalence for guidance on the use of the highway=motorway tag in different countries.

The tag highway=motorway_link should be used for the link roads, sliproads or ramps which lead to and from a motorway. Where one motorway terminates or begins on another the highway=motorway_link can be used to separate and identify the different motorway roads and the continuing route; that is, generally two diverging or converging highway=motorway ways should not meet or join in OpenStreetMap, but rather be separated by highway=motorway_link ways.

Implied values

While the box on the right lists some implied tags, they have been changed several times, they are often country-specific and the community does not agree about the implications. It is suggested to include implied tags when mapping motorways regardless.

Most motorways have  shoulders along each carriageway, but you may use shoulder=no to indicate missing shoulder.

How to map

highway=motorway, lanes=4, oneway=yes, int_ref=E 451, ref=A 5, destination:Darmstadt

A motorway is normally represented by a series two parallel ways, one for each carriageway tagged with highway=motorway. These ways should all point direction of travel and be tagged with oneway=yes. In the less usual case of a motorway where traffic travels in both directions along the same carriageway use a single way and tag it with oneway=no. When drawing parallel ways, place the nodes for each direction next to each other, which results in a better representation on most maps. The following tags may be applicable:

Tagging scheme for highway=motorway

Tag	Description	Example
name=*	Name of the motorway.	Autostrada dei Fiori
ref=*	Highway code in the national highway network.	A 3
oneway=yes	See section #How to map
lanes=*	Number of lanes.	3
maxspeed=*	The maximum speed which is allowed (in km/h).	130
minspeed=*	Minimum driving speed on the motorway (in km/h).	50
destination=*	Name of town for the direction of the motorway. Normally the town written on the sign which belongs to the motorway-link.	Frankfurt
carriageway_ref=*	In the UK, the reference number for the carriageway, as displayed on Highway Agency signing	B
toll=yes	On paid motorways

Use highway=motorway_junction at each point along a motorway with numbered exits to identify the exit number.

Toll gates

example of toll gates

It is not desirable to split motorway into multiple highway=* lines at toll gates.

International equivalence

Country	Roadsign	Description	More
Australia		Motorways, freeways, and freeway-like roads. Divided roads with 2 or 3 lanes in each direction, limited access via interchanges, no traffic lights. Generally 100 or 110 km/h speed limit. For example: Hume Freeway.	Australian Roads Tagging
Austria	Autobahn	Autobahn	WikiProject Austria/Autobahnen
Belarus		Дарога для аўтамабіляў	RU:Map Features:highway
Belgium		nl:autostrade/autosnelweg fr:autoroute de:autobahn maxspeed=120 km/h
Brazil		Autoestradas, >80 km/h
Croatia		Autocesta
Czechia		Dálnice	Cs:WikiProjekt Česko/Značení silnic
Denmark	Motorvej	Motorvej	Danish Map Features
Dominican Republic		Autopista
France		Autoroute (A) : divided roads with 2 lanes or more in each direction, plus a lane on the right reserved for emergency stop. Most autoroutes are privately operated and require passing a toll for long distance, but some sections in specific areas may be toll free. Max speed is usually 130 km/h (110 km/h under raining/snowing/freezing/foggy conditions) but may be reduced to 110 km/h or lower around large cities or autoroute junctions, or in case of works, and will be reduced to 90 km/h or lower if traffic is temporarily derouted to a single bidirectional carriage on a single lane per direction. Access (or crossing) forbidden for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles (except in designated service areas with parkings where max speed is reduced, or behind the protection barriers along autoroutes to reach the neareast emergency phone).	Fr:Map Features
Georgia		ავტობანი (avtobani)
Germany		Autobahn	WikiProject Germany/Autobahn
Greece		Αυτοκινητόδρομος	WikiProject Greece/Motorways
Hong Kong		Designated expressways, road tunnels and tunnel areas.	Zh-hant:Hong Kong tagging
Hungary		Autópálya	WikiProject Hungary/Gyorsforgalmi út
Indonesia		Jalan Tol
Iran (Islamic Republic of)		The Freeways according to the definition of Iranian National Standardization Organization.
Israel	Dálnice	Kwish Mahir
Italy		Autostrada, compresi i raccordi autostradali come le tangenziali di Milano e il Grande Raccordo Anulare di Roma.	It:Italian Roads Tagging
Japan		Expressways or motor roads. Normally divided with 2 or more lanes in each direction.
Korea		Divided, grade-separated highway with 2 or more lanes in each direction designated by a red and blue shield (toll roads). Also, some National Routes (blue oval) which have been upgraded to Motorway status (toll-free).	Ko:Map Features Korea Motorways
Malaysia		Lebuhraya: usually tolled.	Expressway section of the Malaysian_Roads_Tagging page
Netherlands	Autosnelweg	Autosnelweg	Kaarteigenschappen
New Zealand		Motorways and expressways Divided highway with 2 or more lanes in each direction. Grade-separated interchanges (no at-grade intersections, traffic lights or roundabouts). Generally 100 or 110 km/h speed limit.
Norway	File:No sign-MotorwayStart Duel-502.png	Motorvei	No:Map_Features#Road_classes
Philippines		Expressways (mostly tolled). Examples include the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Metro Manila Skyway, Subic - Clark - Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Tarlac - Pangasinan - La Union Expressway (TPLEX), Manila - Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX/Coastal Road), etc.	Philippines/Mapping conventions#Roads
Poland		Autostrada	WikiProject Poland/Klasyfikacja dróg
Portugal		Auto-estrada – all the motorways with "A" reference. For example: A 25.	Portugal's highways standardization
Romania		Autostradă
Russia		автомагистраль (avtomagistral'), которая уже имеет статус trunk.	RU:Map Features:highway
Slovak Republic	DiaľnicaRýchlostná cesta	Diaľnica & Rýchlostná cesta
Slovenia		Avtocesta	WikiProject_Slovenia/Ceste#AC, HC - Avtoceste in Hitre ceste
Spain		Autopista/Autovía	WikiProject Spain/Autopista Normalización
Sweden		Motorväg	Sv:Map Features#Vägar
Switzerland		Autobahn / autoroute
Taiwan		國道 (Freeway)	WikiProject Taiwan/Taiwan tagging
Turkey		Otoyol Vikipedi(turkish) Motorway network in Turkey. Highways in use, under construction and projected	Tr:Turkey roads tagging
UK		motorway
US		A freeway, turnpike, or interstate Grade-separated highway, normally divided with 2 or more lanes in each direction. Access by ramps only. This includes all Interstate Highways (with a couple of rare exceptions) and some US and state highways (or portions thereof).
Venezuela		Se califica como autopista a una vía rápida que cumpla con las características de: 1. Tener un separador físico en el medio, ya sea un muro de concreto o una gran extensión de tierra, que divida las dos calzadas de flujo. 2. La misma debe ser accedida exclusivamente a través de un distribuidor vial y no contener cruces ni semáforos a lo largo de su travesía. Si la vía rápida no cumple con ambas características, se le debe clasificar como una Principal (trunk) Ejemplos de autopistas pueden ser la Regional del Centro de Caracas a Valencia o la José Antonio Páez de San Carlos (Portuguesa) a Barinas.

Quality tool

• You may use CheckAutopista to inspect mapping quality (see also the github project)

Related terms: ‹ motorway › ‹ highway ›