I was following the guidelines at highway=primary.

I've been following the OSM Wiki's guidance for highway tagging, which states that primary highways should be used for arterial roads in the United States. In the case of the Salt Lake-area changes, I've been upgrading designated NHS principal arterials to primary status. In the example of this changeset, 262 and N5068 are not part of a major route and should be secondary routes.

"undiscussed smash-tagging?" I don't think so.

I read through those talk-us pages. From reading through that thread and the comments on Duke87's changeset (see changeset/64919426), it seems there has been a significant amount of discussion, and there is definitely a consensus among the vast majority of contributors to end the motorway tag at the first at-grade.

>> Good thing we're going with what's on the ground and not what the DOT calls it.

The sign on the ground says "freeway ends ahead". And in fact, the OSM definition of "motorway" is even broader than what a freeway is in the US. There is no road in the US called a "freeway" that is not also a motorway. The Tisdale is a freeway (and therefore a motorway) up to the Gilcrease intersection. Since that's an at-grade, the motorway ends there.

There is no difference in the Tisdale immediately north vs. immediately south of the Apache St interchange. If I get on the Tisdale heading south from 36th St, the Apache interchange means nothing to me. The jump in road quality (and speed limit, for that matter) happens immediately after the Gilcrease intersection, so that's where the classification change should be.

There is an overwhelming precedent to make the motorway/trunk designation switch at the first at-grade intersection. Unless you can prove that NE2 changed every single example where a motorway changes to trunk at the first at-grade, and he was the only editor to ever make a change like that, I just can't bring myself to agree.

The at-grade junction indeed makes it not a motorway. That's why the motorway should end there.

Leaving the entire LL Tisdale Parkway as a trunk is like saying "this road is not a freeway because a little segment a long way away isn't." IMO, that's silly.

Look at US 40/189 in Utah, for example. It's built up to full freeway standards (with numbered exits even) until its at-grade intersection with UT 32. Are you saying we should label the entire US 40 freeway as trunk?