Tag:cycleway=link

cycleway = 
Description
A routing connection of a cycleway with a road. Show/edit corresponding data item.
Group: cycleways
Used on these elements
should not be used on nodesmay be used on waysshould not be used on areasshould not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Requires
Status: in use
More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag

This tag like footway=link provides logical gap fills between two adjacent pieces of cycling infrastructure. These typically are physically distinct way center-lines that need routable linking.

Use Scenarios

Here are a few common scenarios that cover scenarios where other cycleway=* tags are not clean fits:

  1. Two cyclable portions of infrastructure are near to one another and one or both have 'man made' inferences of a logical/routable transition between them. For instance a multi-use side path ends suddenly and just before there is a curb cut (driveway, ramp, etc.) is present just before the path comes to a dead end. A 'link' can fill the gap between the two infrastructure center-lines for routing. Note: That the dead ending path ideally needs to be marked with noexit=yes.
  2. Completing 'partially marked desire paths' for instance if there is a footway=access_aisle that ties partially between a multi-use side path with ramp and a cyclable roadway a cycleway= might be used to connect the vehicle highway=* to the highway=cycleway via the footway=access_aisle with perhaps a bicycle=permissive added to allow for use of the 'access aisle' as a desire path when not conflicting with accessible use.
  3. For cycling especially with cyclist bounced between highway=* + cycleway=lane, cycleway=track, or cycleway=shared_lane of roadways and dedicated highway=cycleway as either cycle exclusive or multi-use in nature direction a highway=cycleway into a vehicle highway=* or traffic intersection node at a 90° or 45° angle just to disappear demonstrates these to be more route based logical connections than physically based alignments that benefit from distinction from highway=cycleway. Thus, cycleway= fills this transition point routing function bridging 'gaps' between separate but soon to be linked, or unlinked cycle infrastructure center-lines.
  4. If a bike lane ends with a merge into a "bike box" or Advance Stop Line cycleway=asl then cycleway= can be used to tag the logical transition to the Advance Stop Line node node.
  5. In regions of the world where sidewalks are not accessible to bicyles (bicycle=no, like in Quebec, Canada: this is a law: Quebec law for cyclists), some park's, schools, shops, etc. with foopaths and/or cycleways around or between them are only accessible via small segments of sidewalks. Since they cannot be routed through in bicycle mode, cycleway links must be added between the road centerlines and the start of the foopaths, which are usually tagged with bicycle=yes or bicycle=dismount, or proper cycleways with small segments that must use the sidewalk.

Note: As a general rule of thumb almost every cycleway= listed should be short at most a half roadway or intersection diagonal in width as all listed scenarios are simply logical gap fills for routability between two nearby infrastructure center-lines.

Possible Improvements

cycleway= does cover the routable gap for cyclable infrastructure transitions. What this does not cover is how at transition points to navigate from one piece of infrastructure to the next. It might be necessary to have a relationship in a 'restriction' like context (i.e. from way, to way, via node) that can communicate from road-to-trail or visa-versa transitions.

For Road-to-Road Transitions

For transitions between 'shared_lane' and 'lane'/'track' of vehicle lane cross-overs look at using Relationship of type=connectivity and align the lanes. For examples see Draft:United States/Cycling.

Tags used in combination

See also

Current usage

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