Hi Daniel, I just took a look at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Highway:International_equivalence and the only difference between trunk and primary is the use of the *National Highway System - Core Routes*. I actually find that document to be more subjective then objective.
As far I as I can tell the *National Highway System - Core Routes *is simply a document which the Federal government uses when distributing funding to the provinces for the purpose of road improvements and infrastructure development. I come to this conclusion as here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia there are four primary border crossings -- Peace Arch (BC 99), Pacific Highway (BC 15), Aldergrove (BC 13), and Huntingdon-Abbotsford (BC 11). I can argue that three are actually trunk roads on the following basis: - BC 99 is to motorway standards, therefore automatically defined as Tag:highway=motorway - Goods movement for import/export and therefore all three crossings are nationally important - 15, 13, & 11 - High volume of motor vehicles on annual basis - BC 15 = 2.5 million vehicles; BC 13 = 786,000 vehicles; BC 11 = 1.2 million vehicles - All three routes link the Trans-Canada Highway to important ports of entry and to Seattle when used with other routes such as Interstate 5. Both BC 15 and BC 13 can be argued connect Metro Vancouver two million persons to important destinations. Meanwhile BC 11 can be argued as linking Seattle to interior cities of Prince George, Kamloops, and Kelowna as well as Edmonton in Alberta. IMO the most important difference between a trunk route and a primary route is trunk route is under provincial or federal** jurisdiction and therefore numbered, while a primary route is unnumbered urban arterial route. I think my biggest issue is that OSM only allows for primary, secondary, tertiary, and residential designations regardless if it is highway an interurban route linking cities or an intra-urban street such as Vancouver's 41st Avenue, Toronto's Yonge Street, or Montreal's Boulevard René-Lévesque. All three of these urban examples can be classified as primary just the same as BC 15, ON 6, or QC 157 as they have the same cross section of four travel lanes. Yet the latter three have a different function than the former three. Here are links to Google's Streetview to show the six examples. Vancouver's 41st Avenue > https://goo.gl/maps/EYx3j6eE93x Toronto's Yonge Street > https://goo.gl/maps/b6zq2fzCGdN2 Montreal's Boulevard René-Lévesque > https://goo.gl/maps/7MSniiaQLU52 BC 15 > https://goo.gl/maps/Brnkj8YGpSo ON 6 > https://goo.gl/maps/M4TmhDJXZRC2 QC 157 > https://goo.gl/maps/EL7ZTbXvm3z Perhaps the easiest way is to have a clear definitions for both Tag:highway=trunk and Tag:highway=primary. Therefore I suggest the following: *Tag:highway=trunk *--> A provincial and/or federal government highway that has a route number assigned to it and has route shields posted as well as any unnumbered routes that are listed in the National Highway System - Core Routes. *Tag:highway=primary* --> A road that has four or more lanes in width that is not defined by either Tag:highway=trunk or Tag:highway=motorway. Would this distinction between the two levels -- trunk and primary -- be clear enough for everyone? I know that there will still be some subjectivity on behalf of the individual OSM contributor but it provides a more clear distinction on the border between the two categories. Also some numbered routes that serve small towns that at the end of the road can be classified as Tag:highway=trunk, but I feel that is more appropriate then classifying it as a secondary or tertiary level highway. If you lived, in say Harrison Hot Springs, BC 9 *is* your trunk route to the rest of the world. --- ***The Federal government has direct responsibility over all roads that go through national parks and other federally controlled property. For example, BC 1 in Mt Revelstoke, Glacier, and Yoho national parks is not maintained by the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure but by the Government of Canada's Parks Canada Agency. I used to work the BC Ministry of Transportation and Highways and we had no jurisdiction over these sections of highway.*
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