Talk:Louisiana/Highway Classification
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River Parishes as a Regional Center (work in progress)
While the River Parishes do not seem like much of a destination to the casual observer, this area serves a more vital role for the country. It is home to the largest port in the country, which handles food, oil, chemicals, and general goods, destined to/from countries around the world. The region is home to 6 of the state's 17 oil refineries, two chemical plants, several grain silos, a nuclear power plant, an aluminum plant, a steel mill, as well as many smaller industries, which cater to either shipping or the plants themselves.
The area is serviced by I-10, I-49 (when it's complete)/US 90 I-55, US 61 (Airline Highway), I-310, and LA 3127 (Westbank). Airline Highway is the main highway through the region. It connects starts in New Orleans and ends at the US/Canadian border near Thunder Bay, Canada. Airline serves as a quick and vital link to get from the port and surrounding facilities to the interstate system to get these goods to their destination (as well as the reverse). Without Airline Highway, these goods would take longer to get to their destination by having to travel through residential areas, or River Road (which winds as the river does, and is much longer to take). These reasons are why Airline Highway should be a trunk road between I-10 in Ascension Parish all the way to the Jefferson/St Charles Parish line.
(This was discussed on OSM Slack in #local-louisiana and resolved. Airline will remain a trunk)
LADOTD functional system
The "Highway Classification" table puts a lot of emphasis on LADOTD's functional classification system. I'd recommend removing this column and modifying the definitions to suggest LADOTD functional classes that "possibly" or "typically" correspond. While the LADOTD system is of interest to those of us putting together this guide, the whole point of devising our own definitions and examples is that our work will serve as an alternative to the official classifications. Moreover, some of our examples intentionally differ from LADOTD classifications, such as the Pontchartrain Causeway as highway=trunk HFCS=Urban Freeway/Expressway. – Minh Nguyễn 💬 06:51, 12 June 2022 (UTC)
Motorway/Trunk distinctions
The current description text isn't wrong, but it is a bit repetitive in a way that may be confusing for new people approaching this guidance for the first time.
| OSM | OSM Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Motorway | Highway with no at-grade intersections and controlled access. All interstates in Louisiana fit this category. If an expressway provides a link between important regional centers but do not fit OSM's definition of a Motorway then it should be a Trunk. | I-10
Raceland-M.C. Expressway |
| Trunk | Highways that are the best non-motorway route between important regional centers. May also include expressways that do not meet the criteria for Motorway but link important regional centers. | US 171
US 61 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway |
I'd suggest keeping the motorway definition targeted at things that may be motorway and let the trunk definition handle the nuance. Here's an example rephrasing thing might be a little more clear:
| OSM | OSM Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Motorway | Highway with no at-grade intersections and controlled access. All interstates in Louisiana fit this category. | I-10
Raceland-M.C. Expressway |
| Trunk | Highways that are the best route between important regional centers and don't meet the physical criteria for motorway.
Add expressway=yes to indicate sections of highway with enhanced infrastructure not quite to motorway standards. |
US 171
US 61 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway |
The line
Add expressway=yes to indicate sections of highway with enhanced infrastructure not quite to motorway standards.
Could also be added to the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary descriptions for consistency and to drive home the "trunk!=expressway" message. ;-) --Adamfranco (talk) 17:40, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
Parishes
The table currently says primary connects various kinds of place=*s, including place=parish. In fact, the parishes are all tagged place=county because they're county-equivalents. In general, it doesn't mean very much for a road to lead to or from a parish – all of Louisiana is in a parish. I assume parishes were mentioned here because of New Orleans/Orleans Parish or Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge Parish, but both have place=city nodes (in addition to separate place=county nodes), so I don't think it's necessary to mention parishes at all here. – Minh Nguyễn 💬 15:43, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
River Parishes
The "River Parishes as a Regional Center" section is labeled a "work in progress". Are we also voting on this section, or just on the sections that are complete? – Minh Nguyễn 💬 15:46, 9 April 2023 (UTC)
"Residential/Minor"
Is this meant to mean `highway=residential` and `highway=unclassified`? OSM has no "Minor" highway tag value.
There should be a mention of highway surface. In developed/Global North countries in OSM, highway=unclassified and upwards are generally assumed to be paved unless otherwise tagged. There are of course specific circumstances around highway=residential A41 roads in the US.
--Richard (talk) 09:11, 10 April 2023 (UTC)
Appropriate for voting?
I'm not convinced that the voting system is appropriate or relevant for this. The voting system is used to approve the documentation of new/changed tags, not their application in a particular area. Guidelines like this should evolve by consensus rather than by a majoritarian vote. --Richard (talk) 09:11, 10 April 2023 (UTC)
How is this 'approved'?
2 votes is nowhere near enough the threshold for a valid vote. Jnicho02 (talk) 10:29, 23 April 2023 (UTC)