Tag:footway=sidewalk
 footway = sidewalk
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| Description |
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Sidewalks as separate ways. 
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| Group: highways |
| Used on these elements |
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| Requires |
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| Useful combination |
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| See also |
Status: approved
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Use footway=sidewalk along with highway=footway to tag 
sidewalks (also known as pavement/footway in the UK or a footpath in Australia) as distinct ways from the carriageway.
For crosswalks use footway=crossing.
footway=sidewalk is also sometimes used with other highway=* values
- sidewalks under construction highway=construction + construction=footway
- combined footway and cycleway - highway=path + bicycle=designated + foot=designated + segregated=no.
This article describes the "separate way" approach to mapping sidewalks. Alternatively, especially if the sidewalk is just attached with a kerb, sidewalks may be mapped as properties on the motorized roads, see Sidewalks for details on this distinction.
There is currently no consensus on how to handle naming sidewalks. The name is often left un-tagged. In much of the world the sidewalk is considered part of the street, and can be tagged with the same name=* tags as the roadway. There are also proposals to use is_sidepath:of:name=* tags (see Proposal:Key:is sidepath), associatedStreet relations, or Proposal:Relation:street.
Easy mistakes
If you move the sidewalk tagging from part of a highway to separate ways, make sure you also update the sidewalk=* (alongside any subtags thereof) of the main highway to sidewalk=separate. This causes issues with data consumers which see two sidewalks side by side and cause issues from redundancy (e.g. having the sidewalk surface mapped twice, once in sidewalk:surface=* on the highway=* and surface=* on the footway=sidewalk) to contradictory tags (e.g. foot=use_sidepath with sidewalk=(left/both/right)) to routering errors (routers generally depriotise highways with sidewalk=separate but can route pedestrians over the carriageway even with a parallel highway=footway).
Also make sure to not leave sidewalks isolated with no connection to the carriageway or other paths. Generally add crossings at intersections (preferably at official crossings) or draw some driveways if you haven't done so already.
To a lesser extend, sidewalks are compulsory in many countries so if you have any hiking routes, make sure you move them from the carriageway to the sidewalk (in fact, QA will complain that the route goes through ways tagged with foot=use_sidepath).
See Guidelines for pedestrian navigation for more not-to-dos.
How to map
See footway=* for usage instructions.
See also
- an overview about mapping Sidewalks
- footway=* - Further refinement of footways
- sidewalk=* - Indicates the presence or absence of a sidewalk (pavement/footway)
associatedStreet / street- Proposed features/Sidewalk as separate way - approved proposal that introduced this tag
- Proposed_features/sidewalk_schema
- comprehensive explanation for bicycle way tagging
- Guidelines for pedestrian navigation
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