It is not clear which sections of which roads were changed. I’ve checked a few places from memory and viewed their recordings on OpenStreetCam.
Road 1: According to the comment in changeset 69735931, the section of road 1 between Anava interchange and Sha’ar HaGay interchange is not a motorway. However, an OpenStreetCam trace taken in Aug-2018 shows that Sha’ar HaGay is a motorway interchange. I’ve left a request to the owner of the changeset asking him to join this discussion and clarify.
Road 2: South of Caesarea seems to be a trunk. An OpenStreetCam trace taken in Aug-2018 shows that Caesarea is a trunk interchange.
Highway 7: you are right, it is still considered a trunk, probably because they are still building two interchanges in the west (Nir Galim, Bnei Brit).
Highway 1 is now a designated motorway. Same with Highway 2, thought as I said, some parts are under repairs/expansions so there it’s not a motorway—but in that case we should add construction markings. The “normal” situation is that it’s a motorway.
However: the question is what we can consider a reliable source. If we were only mapping according to satellite or street cam imagery, we wouldn’t have a very comprehensive map. Sometimes we even import entire datasets from sources considered reliable, even though they have some mistakes. Is the company Mapa a reliable source? Is the Israel Mapping Institute? Each of these lists even more motorways, including parts of Highway 7, Highway 65 and Highway 77.
I didn’t drive there recently, but this 2017 article claims that after the new lanes were opened, the permitted speed was raised: https://news.walla.co.il/item/3070320
Again though, I ask what other mapping and non-mapping sources are considered “good enough”; especially with the understanding that we don’t usually have up to date street cam footage of every section of road, and designations / maximum speeds change faster than the rate at which we get such footage.
Initial mapping can be done with all kinds of free sources. Mapa an MAPI are NOT free sources. Moreover, they are usually less updated than OSM.
Everyone can use the OpenStreetCam app for Android and iOS to upload updated street pictures.
Maxmimal speed and start/end freeway signs are not relevant for road classification. Only the color of the road signs.
IMO when there is question, or a dispute, the “Map what’s on the ground” rule should be used. Take a visit or plan a trip, if needed. Otherwise, we are risking “edit wars”.
This Shoresh interchange sign, taken in Aug-2018 is green. Similarly for Kiryat Ye’arim. These “on the ground” pictures were taken more than a year after the Walla News article. Like in other areas and ministries, the MOT’s announcements on the news should not be taken too seriously.
We agree that the same road can have different speed limits and different colors and they do not always match.
After several long discussions in this forum, the community agreed to use the road sign color as the only source for determining the “highway” tag, and documented this decision in the Wiki:
The speed limit signs are used for the “maxspeed” tag:
A “highway” sign - , which is a shorthand for max speed and road access restriction, can impact the “maxspeed” tag, but not the “highway=motorway” tag:
Does anybody knows user ar58?
He is very active, but did some very strange changes.
For example: in 72924785 he replaced existing roundabout with a traffic light junction (I was there before and after and roundabout is still exists)
and in 72924232 and 73507547 he deleted few roads only to recreate them again.
Left him PM more then week ago - no answer. Comment on changeset - same.
Delete-recreate change is not too bad, but it kind of losses way history, which may be very useful sometimes.
What do you think?
yrtiniD and I have commented on the changeset. Unless the user responds with a proof of a change in the on-the-ground road signs from blue to red, I would recommend a revert.
Should we mention somewhere in wiki the status of that part of Ayalon? And may be add the link to the comments of disputed road segments?
I suppose the change war there mostly because of lack of knowledge of local consensus existsence.
User Vl-Sher created several changesets titled “Translation” that seem to have been made by a non-Hebrew speaker or an automated translation service.
For example, “גבי ימין נמצאים בערוצו של נחל ימין” was translated to “The upper right is on the channel of the right stream”
[For non-Hebrew readers, a proper translation would be “Yemin waterholes are located in Yemin stream”]