I guess I'm just full of questions today.
Again, looking at routes near me, on surfaces with which I'm deeply familiar through a decade of running and cycling: There are "paved" cycleways near me that are so old and neglected that that they're far more hazardous than nearby roadways (and far less pleasant as well). I'm wondering what the appropriate OSM tag is for these in order for c.t to consider them fairly as routing options.
In the particular case I'm thinking of, the pavement is crossed by root-bursts that are as large as roadside curbs, and large areas of deep mud from prevalent flooding events. (The latter are never cleared in some areas, at least not in the 13 years I've been using those paths to run and cycle.) The best alternative route is a nearby road which is actually wide, newly paved, and striped for cyclists most of the way. But c.t will consistently pick the separate path because the tagging makes it seem better.
Comments
I think the smoothness= tag is possibly the best one in these circumstances. It’s an imperfect tag in lots of ways but it does at least give an indication that a path isn’t very, well, smooth to cycle. c.t will take account of that and downrate the path accordingly.
Thanks, I'll try those.
There are a few ford:steppingstones already on these routes. (some have actually degraded into mud slicks.) that don't seem to block things up -- which is a good thing, usually, IMO, but a rider without recessed cleats might thing otherwise.