A user has recently changed highway=cycleway objects in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London (QEOP) from highway=cycleway to highway=footway on the ground that "Olympic Park paths are Pedestrian Priority".
In several places, the edited object no longer has a bicycle=* access tag and segregated=no has been removed, which breaks cycle routing through the path. I am unsure whether this is carelessness, or the expression of an agenda which has no place in OSM. If the latter, this is vandalism. It also appears to be tagging for the renderer, as changing cycleway->footway changes the path in OpenCycleMap from a blue dashed line to a red dashed line. Changes made by Skyguy in: https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/89374106 Broken routing by missing access tags (not changing the highway=* tag for now) fixed in: https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/90351366 Most paths in QEOP are 3 metre wide gold-top asphalt (looks a bit like surface=compacted and sometimes mapped as such) and there are no paths on which cycling is prohibited. The paths are almost all included as cycle tracks in the TfL CID export. QEOP is generally open to the public 24/7, but any part can be closed without notice for events. I believe the most appropriate base tagging, following the duck tagging principle for highway=*, for most of the paths in QEOP would be: highway=cycleway + segregated=no + bicycle=permissive + foot=permissive There is nothing in the Wiki which suggests that pedestrians do not already have priority on unsegregated cycleways, so the edit seems unnecessary. The current Highway Code Rule 62 does not make this explicit, but pedestrian priority seems a reasonable interpretation of: "Take care when passing pedestrians, especially children, older or disabled people, and allow them plenty of room. Always be prepared to slow down and stop if necessary." https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82 The proposed new Rule 63 could also reasonably be read as strongly implying pedestrian priority: "Sharing space with pedestrians, horse riders and horse drawn vehicles. When riding in places where sharing with pedestrians, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles is permitted take care when passing pedestrians, especially children, older adults or disabled people. Let them know you are there when necessary e.g. by ringing your bell (it is recommended that a bell is fitted to your bike), or by calling out politely. Remember that pedestrians may be deaf, blind or partially sighted and that this may not be obvious. Do not pass pedestrians, horse riders or horse drawn vehicles closely or at high speed, particularly from behind. Remember that horses can be startled if passed without warning. Always be prepared to slow down and stop when necessary." https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-highway-code-to-improve-road-safety-for-cyclists-pedestrians-and-horse-riders/summary-of-the-consultation-proposals-on-a-review-of-the-highway-code BCC to DWG because of the impact in cycle routing. -- Robert Skedgell (rskedgell) _______________________________________________ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb