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
bicycle=no foot=no motor_vehicle=yes 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
Tools for this tag
taginfo · AD · AT · BR · BY · CH · CN · CZ · DE · DK · FI · FR · GB · GR · HU · IN · IR · IT · LI · LU · JP · KP · KR · NL · PL · PT · RU · ES · AR · MX · CO · BO · CL · EC · PY · PE · UY · VE · TW · UA · US · VN overpass-turbo Sophox OSM Tag History

The highway=motorway tag identifies the highest-performance roads within a territory. It should be used only on roads with  control of access, or selected roads with  limited access depending on the local context and prevailing convention. Those roads are generally referred to as motorways, freeways or expressways in English.

These roads usually have a special legal designation, with a set of rules specifically applied on them. Generally, some restrictions are placed on the kind of vehicles or traffic which can use the road, such as no pedestrians, bicycles, livestock, horses and so on.

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

• generally resemble a controlled-access road and are free from intersection controls (such as traffic-signals, rotaries and roundabouts, and stop signs or stop markings);
• 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 (high-importance non-motorway roads) and/or motorroad=yes (motorway-like access restrictions), subject to local tagging conventions in your country. 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, a highway=motorway_link can be used to separate and identify the different motorway roads and the continuing route; that is, two diverging or converging highway=motorway ways should not meet or join directly, 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. If a motorway uses emergency bays or emergency refuge areas instead of a shoulder then highway=emergency_bay can be added to nodes where they exist.

In some places areas some highway=motorway allow cyclists and pedestrians (on a shoulder). It means that explicit foot=no, bicycle=no, shoulder=yes may be useful even if seemingly obvious.

How to map

highway=motorway; lanes=4; oneway=yes; ref=A4

A motorway is normally represented by a series of two parallel ways tagged with highway=motorway, one for each carriageway. These ways should all point to the direction of travel and be tagged with oneway=yes. When drawing parallel ways, place the nodes for each direction next to each other, which results in a better representation on most maps. In the less usual case where traffic travels in both directions along the same carriageway, use a single way and tag it with oneway=no. 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
int_ref=*	Highway code in the international highway network.	E 30
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
winter_service=*	if winter service is provided

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

Toll gates

example of toll gates

At a toll plaza, do not fork the motorway into multiple parallel ways to represent the lanes approaching the tollbooths. It is fine to have a single highway=motorway line even if the tollbooths physically split it on a short distance, as with other physical barriers.

Alternatively, you may draw parallel ways around the sides of the tollbooths, but only in the immediate vicinity of the physical separation. For example, in the photo at right, the motorway would fork where the concrete barriers begin. Use change:lanes=* to indicate a lane change restriction extending much farther back from the tollbooth.

International equivalence

Country	Roadsign	Description	More
Australia		Motorways, freeways, and freeway-like roads.	Australian Tagging Guidelines/Roads
Austria		Autobahn	WikiProject Austria/Autobahnen
Belarus		Дарога для аўтамабіляў	RU:Map Features:highway
Belgium		NL: Autostrade/autosnelweg, FR: Autoroute, DE: Autobahn	WikiProject Belgium/Motorways WikiProject Belgium/Conventions/Highways
Brazil		Autoestradas, >80 km/h
Bulgaria		Автомагистрала (Avtomagistrala)	Bg:WikiProject Bulgaria/Пътна мрежа
China (Mainland)		高速公路 (Expressway)
Croatia		Autocesta
Czech Republic		Dálnice	Cs:WikiProjekt Česko/Značení silnic
Denmark		Motorvej	Danish Map Features
Dominican Republic		Autopista
France		Autoroute (A) : separated roads with at least 2 lanes per direction, plus a right shoulder (emergency lane, for cars to stop, or for emergency vehicles access during traffic jams). 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, and reduced further under bad conditions like snow/freeze/fog) but may be reduced to 110 km/h (100 km/h under raining) or lower around large cities or autoroute junctions, and reduced to 90 km/h or lower near some construction or if traffic is temporarily rerouted to a single bidirectional carriage using a single lane per direction. Access (or crossing) is strictly forbidden for pedestrians and non/light motorized vehicles (except in designated service areas with parkings where max speed is reduced). Car drivers at foot must stay behind the protection barriers (along autoroutes, on right), when waiting for emergency, or to walk to the nearest emergency phone.	Fr:Map Features
Georgia		ავტობანი (avtobani)
Germany		Autobahn	WikiProject Germany/Autobahn
Greece		Αυτοκινητόδρομος	WikiProject Greece/Motorways
Hong Kong SAR		Designated expressways, road tunnels and tunnel areas.	Zh-hant:Hong Kong tagging
Hungary		Autópálya	WikiProject Hungary/Gyorsforgalmi út
Indonesia		Jalan Tol
Iran		The Freeways according to the definition of Iranian National Standardization Organization.
Israel		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	NL:The Netherlands roads tagging
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		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 (A) & dual carriageway droga ekspresowa (S).	WikiProject Poland/Klasyfikacja dróg
Portugal		Autoestrada – 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
Slovakia		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 (Rep. of China)		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
United States		See: US Highway Classification Guide for motorway.
Venezuela		Only some freeways (called "Autopista"): Dual carriageway highways divided by a physical divider with 2 or more lanes in each direction, directly connected to national roads, strictly limited access by ramps that allow speed reduction outside the main carriageway. Must not have same-level crossroads, traffic lights, roundabouts, or u-turn ramps that merge on the left-lane (usually called "Retorno"). There should be no streets or roads that connect directly to the highway if it is not through a well-defined ramp. There should also be no buildings or properties adjacent to the highway or any of its access ramps. Legally 90 km/h speed limit.	Venezuela roads tagging (es) Autopista (es)

Quality tool

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

See also

• man_made=gantry – overhead structure, usually for holding signs
• highway=toll_gantry – gantry for toll purposes

References

Related terms: ‹ motorway › ‹ highway ›