Hey Dave, quick one. I was looking at way/1540862494 (way/1540862494) and noticed it's tagged highway=unclassified. It doesn't read as a settlement link to me, and Mapillary shows it as a dirt track running out to some farms. Was that an intentional reclass, or did it slip through as a mistake? Happy to help retag it back to track if so, just wanted to check with you first before touching it.

er the forum thread, surface=fine_gravel fits: loose, 2-8mm, matches your 0-5mm material where you can make footprints.
https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/surface-fine-gravel-is-it-for-loose-gravel-or-duplicate-of-surface-compacted/7533

On dust: it comes and goes with rain, same as any gravel road, so it's not a reliable identifier. Grain size and looseness are what decide the tag.

For reference, this shows coarse (gravel) vs fine side by side:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_gravel_roads.jpg

And this is closer to your material than the Zagreb photo currently on the wiki page:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surface-fine-gravel-costa-brava.jpg

Following up: reverted the remaining highway=track/residential -> service changes and the surface=unpaved removals from this period back to their original values, per the pattern discussed here and on Russ's changesets. Details: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/reverting-large-scale-track-service-reclassification-2023-edits/145992

Hi Dave, thanks for flagging this. Good catch, those name tags predate my edit, I only touched ref on this pass.

Looking at the OSM wiki (Key:bridge, "Bridge numbers"), the convention is bridge:name for an actual proper name and bridge:ref for a numbered/lettered reference plate. Since ตก.019/004/029 follow the same DRR numbering scheme as the road ref rather than being real names, I think bridge:ref is the better fit here. Feel free to make the switch if you get to it first, otherwise I'll follow up in a separate changeset. Thanks again for catching it.

For sure, laterite is only found in the tropics, apologies for posting on the wrong changeset!

Good question, and that actually settles the clay part: real clay tennis courts (crushed brick/shale) do get slippery and waterlogged in heavy rain, low porosity means water pools into mud, that's why tournaments stop play and cover the courts. Since yours doesn't behave that way, clay is ruled out, soil or court material.

For the actual tag, it comes down to firmness: if it shifts loosely underfoot and shows footprints, that's surface=fine_gravel. If it stays firm with the particles locked together, that's surface=compacted.

Sorry, this should have gone to a different changeset, my mistake 😅. On the substance: that 57-use figure is stale, a bot mass-converted surface=laterite away years ago, which is what actually suppressed adoption, not lack of real-world relevance. Since approval it's already past 1000 uses, and I'd expect significant growth as more of the tropics get mapped. For what it's worth, surface=laterite only occurs in the tropics, so you'll never run into it in Europe, rest easy 😉. It just happens to be one of the most common road surfaces across the tropics, easy to miss if you've never set foot there. Happy mapping! 🗺️

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Sorry, please ignore my previous comment, it was meant for a different changeset. Wrong one, apologies for the noise!

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite

Hi, some of the ways tagged `surface=clay` in this changeset appear to be laterite roads. `surface=laterite` was approved on 2026-06-15 and describes this surface more precisely. Would you be comfortable retagging? Happy to do it if you prefer. More info: surface=laterite