With the changes of road types to align with national Functional Classifications, the Dirt Road type seems to have become a trouble spot. In some areas of the country (rural farm areas, desert areas, etc) dirt roads are classified as high as PS. I haven’t seen any has mH yet, but I wouldn’t doubt there are some. With this being said, most drivers have the box checked to “avoid dirt roads”. While I agree if a dirt road is set to “PS” per FC, it is because it is a crucial road to navigate for certain routes. However, some users might be offended by this as they would much rather go a long way around than to traverse a dirt / improved unpaved road. What if we can have a checkbox to set a “Dirt Road” flag on segment(s) that are truly a dirt road, but classified higher?
Thoughts?
In real life, there is dirt and then there’s dirt, and then there is 4x4 only. Some unpaved roads are relatively smooth and fine for minivans and small sedans. Others are really only a good fit for “rural-ready” vehicles like Subarus and the like and sturdy pickup trucks. Or high-clearance farm equipment, especially if they cross a stream. Others are steep, and rutted or boulder-strewn and really only suitable for serious high-clearance off-road 4WD vehicles.
Smooth unpaved, rutted unpaved, and off-road only unpaved surfaces can be found on parking lots, private roads, regular streets and, apparently, on primary streets.
So I have to agree. “Surface type” should be separate from “Road type”. And we might need choices like “paved”, “nearly as good as paved”, “a bit rutted”, and “for off-road vehicles only”
City people probably would be dismayed if they tried to drive on the wilderness 4WD roads, but they would probably be OK on a well-maintained gravel or hard-pan Primary Street.
What about oiled chips? What about mcadam surfaces? are they paved, or are they dirt.