Key:sidewalk

The sidewalk=* key can be used to indicate the presence or absence of a sidewalk (pavement/footway/foopath) alongside a street where the footway runs parallel to the carriageway.

Using just the sidewalk=* tag without drawing the actual sidewalks is called the "refinement of the highway" approach. Alternatively, sidewalks can be mapped as separate footways, see Sidewalks for details on this distinction. When mapping sidewalks separately (or just one side separate and the other using sidewalk=*) one may use sidewalk=separate and sidewalk:left=separate and sidewalk:right=separate.

Usage

To provide information about sidewalks associated with streets, add the sidewalk=* tag to the highway=* way representing the street and add any additional tags (below) describing the sidewalk.

The values left and right depend on the direction in which the way is drawn in OpenStreetMap. A value of left means the left-hand side of the road when looking in forward direction, while right means the right-hand side. See Forward & backward, left & right for more.

For footpaths besides railways (railway=*) please use a separate way (e.g. highway=footway).

Values

Value	Description
both	Both sides of the street have sidewalks.
right	Only a sidewalk on the right side of the way representing the street.
left	Only a sidewalk on the left side of the way representing the street.
no	There is no sidewalk at all.
none	synonym of no, deprecated
yes	Either both sides or one side of this street have sidewalks. Use a more specific tag in preference.
separate	This road has sidewalks but these are mapped using separate ways. If a there is a separately mapped sidewalk on only one side of the road, consider the more specific tags below.

Separately mapped sidewalks on only one side

Sometimes when a sidewalk is mapped separately, this is done on only one side of the road (e.g., when there is a narrow grass verge or parking bays that separate it from the carriage way but not on the other side, or the other side lacks a sidewalk altogether). Because sidewalk=separate alone is not sufficient for this scenario, the sidewalk:left=* and sidewalk:right=* tags may be used.

Example	Description
sidewalk:left=no + sidewalk:right=separate	There is a separately mapped sidewalk on the right side of the road, and no sidewalk on the left.
sidewalk:left=yes + sidewalk:right=separate	There is a separately mapped sidewalk on the right side of the road, and a sidewalk on the left which is not mapped separately.

sidewalk:left=* and sidewalk:right=* are more specific than sidewalk=*, and override the latter when both are used. Mappers are encouraged however to avoid mixing them and should prefer to use sidewalk=* unless the situation cannot be represented by it (such as the two examples listed above).

Additional tags

Additional tags can be added by using the sidewalk: prefix, in combination with the :left/right/both suffix (becoming an infix here). For example:

• sidewalk:both:surface=paving_stones
• sidewalk:left:smoothness=*
• sidewalk:right:width=* / est_width=*
• sidewalk:right:bicycle=yes
• sidewalk:both:incline=*
• sidewalk:both:kerb=*
• sidewalk:both:wheelchair=*
• sidewalk:both:tactile_paving=*
• sidewalk:right:traffic_sign=*

When a sidewalk is mapped separately (as indicated by sidewalk=separate, sidewalk:left=separate, or sidewalk:right=separate, than any properties of that sidewalk should be mapped on that separately drawn way instead (not using the above tags on the road itself).

Editing with JOSM

In JOSM the Map Paint Style Sidewalks and footways (with knobs on) or SidewalksPlus can be used to visualize the sidewalk=*, sidewalk:left=*, and sidewalk:right=* tags:

Sample of Sidewalks and footways (with knobs on) in JOSM. The dashes lines along the street indicate the presence (separately mapped or implied) or absence of sidewalks.

Deprecation of sidewalk=none

In discussions on several different forums support has been voiced for the deprecation of sidewalk=none in favour of sidewalk=no.

A comparison of the usage of both tags can be found at Taginfo and OSM tag history

Please note that updating none to no without manual review should be done in compliance with the Automated Edits code of conduct.

Rendering

• A slippy map version is available online. OpenStreetMap detailed overlays generates a road overlay with lanes, cycleways (cycleway=lane), parking, and sidewalks rendered at higher zooms (16+).
• Useful Maps 2 feature rendering of sidewalk=* (limited to UK)

Possible tagging mistakes

footway=yes

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=yes ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=yes, but preferably use one of the more specific sidewalk=* values.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=left

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=left ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=left.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=right

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=right ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=right.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=none

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=none ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=none.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=no

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=no ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=none.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=separate

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=separate ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=separate.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

footway=both

		$1%
		$1%
		$1%
		$1%

More details at taginfo

• footway=both ‒ Can be replaced with sidewalk=both.

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

See also

• footway=* for mapping sidewalks as a separate way
• foot=use_sidepath - Use compulsory parallel footpath instead
• Sidewalks for a survey of sidewalk tagging approaches
• Proposed_features/Sidewalk - proposal for this key

Related terms: ‹ pavement ›^(en-GB) ‹ footway ›