I always found our road classification guidelines to be too imprecise and at
the same time too complicated. Even after months of being an active mapper I
still found myself reading the guidelines over and over again to confirm if my
chosen classifications would really meet all the different criteria. Of course
it is challenging to precisely define something that's inherently full of grey
areas, but I think your efforts are a great step into the right direction.
As of now we have a summary in tabular form on the page of general mapping
conventions and also the more detailed but seemingly independently written page
for road classifications. It seems to me that the proposal in its current form
could not fully replace either of them.
I agree with many of the suggested changes (especially for the higher road
classes), I just find some of the wordings a bit overly complicated and some of
the descriptions a bit narrowly defined. As for removing the urban bias, I
think we should put in some additional effort in redefining the lower road
classes. In my daily mapping I find that a huge part of the inaccurate road
classifications happen with tertiary, unclassified, tracks and paths.
Here is my attempt in compounding a structured overview based on your proposal,
some of the old definitions and some new suggestions:
* Tag
* Title
* Description
* Examples and Characteristics
* Motorway
* High Speed Routes
* Limited-Access Expressways
* Always Grade-Separated
* Speed Limit: 100 km/h
* Speed Limit: 80 km/h (Trucks and Buses)
* Minimum Speed: 60 km/h
* Trunk
* Major National Transportation Backbone Routes
* Major Highways connecting Key Cities
* Diversion/Bypass Roads of Key Cities
* Non Grade-Separated Expressways
* Almost All National Primary Roads (N1-N99)
* Some National Secondary Roads (N100-N999)
* Typical Number of Lanes: 4-6
* Typical Speeds: 60-80 km/h
* Primary
* Roads of Major Regional Importance
* Major Highways connecting Minor Cities and Key Municipalities
* Diversion/Bypass Roads of Minor Cities and Key Municipalities
* Major Urban Arteries
* Most National Secondary Roads (N100-N999)
* Some National Tertiary Roads
* Typical Number of Lanes: 2-4
* Typical Speeds Urban: 30-60 km/h
* Typical Speeds Rural: 60-80 km/h
* Secondary
* Roads of Minor Regional Importance and Major Local Importance
* Main Roads connecting all Municipalities
* Main Roads connecting Key Barangays
* Minor Urban Arteries
* Most National Tertiary Roads
* Typical Number of Lanes: 2-4
* Typical Speeds Urban: 30-40 km/h
* Typical Speeds Rural: 40-80 km/h
* Sometimes Unpaved in Rural Areas
* Tertiary
* Roads of Local Importance
* Urban: Collector Roads or Major Local Streets
* Typical Number of Lanes: 2
* Typical Speeds: 30-40 km/h
* Rural: Roads connecting Barangays and big Sitios or Puroks
* Typical Number of Lanes: 2
* Typical speeds: 30-60 km/h
* Sometimes Unpaved
* Unclassified
* Roads of Minor Local Importance
* Urban: Mixed-use Non-residential Roads
* Typical Number of Lanes Urban: 2
* Typical Speeds Urban: 30-40 km/h
* Rural: Roads connecting small Sitios or Puroks
* Typical Number of Lanes Rural: 1
* Typical speeds Rural: 30-60 km/h
* Often Unpaved
* Residential
* Residential Roads
* Roads specifically used to access Houses
* Typical Number of Lanes: 1-2
* Typical Speeds: 10-30 km/h
* Often has Traffic calming Measures
* Sometimes Unpaved
* Service
* Roads with specific Function
* Parking Lot Roads, Drive-Thru Lanes, Access Roads around Buildings,
Private Driveways
* Farm Driveways, Single-track Farm Roads
* Typical Number of Lanes: 1-2
* Typical Speeds: 10-30 km/h
* Track
* Very rough Roads
* Roads only accessible by 4x4 or Motorbike
* Access Roads to Farmland and very remote Sitios
* Typical Number of Lanes: 1
* Often passes through Waterways
* Often impassable during heavy Rain
* Path
* Paths
* Paths leading to very remote Sitios
* Hiking Trails, Mountain Bike Trails
* Only accessible by Foot or Bicycle
* Typical Width: 0.5-1.5 m
* Usually unpaved
* Footway
* Footways
* Paths specifically for Pedestrians
* Paths
