Newbie needs help - Connecting paths over parking lot

Hello everyone,

after reading the tutorial, I started editing mistakes on the map and I am stuck with this:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/51.09768/-3.17168
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/51.09150/-3.15821

In both cases, I wanted to add a connecting path. On the first link, I can see the connecting road I created, but when trying to route over it, the router does not see the connection.
In the second case, I can only see the connecting path between Bishpool Lane and the footpath when I activate the data mode. Again, routing does not work.

Can someone point out my mistakes, please?

Routing over areas, such as the car park, is hard: most OSM-based routers do not do it. So there is nothing much wrong with your edits. The parking aisle connected to the track should also somehow be connected to the incoming road.

Probably the simplest thing to do is add a second highway footway from the edge of the car park to the track/entrance road. Put a note on saying something “only added to ensure routing connectivity”. Technically this goes against “Don’t Map for the Renderer” or in this case router and “One Feature, One Element”, but if properly marked up such redundant information can be removed at a later point. “Be pragmatic” should also be part of the OSM credo.

An alternative would be to use highway=service with service=parking_aisle and join the existing footpath to that.

Both should achieve your goal of not having a routing island.

The second case is simpler. highway=road is never used by routing engines: the tag is explicitly used for roads where not enough information is available. In your case I’d assume it was a service road/

Hello fmann,

The gates either side of the car park do not allow for any form of access. There’s also no access across the cattle grid into the car park from the unclassified road. Nor a way across the car park from the grid.
For the second one I agree with SK53, the short stub tagged highway=road looks to be a problem.
Regards Bernard

A parking lot (amenity=parking) does not indicate any traversable area per se. It can very well include fences, trees, walls, huts. You should usually add some highway information to the parking lot. highway=service for the major ways and higway=service + service=parking_aisle for the minor ones. Look for example over in Taunton how a parking lot has its own ways and is connected to the residential rodes and some footways: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/51.01653/-3.09972 So at least you should somehow connect the end of Lydeard Hill Road to the foot paths.

As BCNorwich pointed out barriers (here gate and cattle grid) generally block traffic and routing. You should add appropriate access tags to indicate which traffic can go through. In your case that could be acces=yes + horse=no for the cattle grid and foot=yes + bicycle=yes + horse=yes for the gates.

Another option is to use highway=virtual

Although this is as yet proposed, many have started using it as a solution to a most common problem.

I use highway=virtual then add highway:virtual= [path]

It is extremely useful when tracing a well used path across parks,pedestrian areas and pitches.
If you are using mkgmap then make this highway invisible and routable, ie 0x17 continue