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Add laterite, rock, sand to vector unpaved surface list - #398

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Add laterite, rock, sand to vector unpaved surface list#398
julcnx wants to merge 1 commit into
der-stefan:masterfrom
julcnx:vector-unpaved-laterite-rock-sand

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@julcnx

@julcnx julcnx commented Jul 26, 2026

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Summary

vector/tilemaker/process-otm.lua classifies surface into unpaved for the streets_med/streets vector layers, but the value list is missing a few common unpaved natural surfaces: laterite, rock, and sand.

surface=laterite was approved via OSM's proposal process (Proposal:Surface=laterite, 29-0-0) and is documented at Tag:surface=laterite. It's a natural lateritic soil surface, in the same vein as the dirt/gravel/mud/ground values already in the list. rock and sand are likewise already-common unpaved values that were missing.

Changes

  • vector/tilemaker/process-otm.lua: add laterite, rock, sand to the unpaved surface value list.

Scoped to just this list. I noticed the raster renderer (mapnik/opentopomap.xml) doesn't use surface for paved/unpaved styling at all currently (only tracktype affects styling there), that's a separate, much bigger gap and out of scope for this PR, flagging it here in case it's useful context.

Testing

I don't have a tilemaker build set up locally, so this hasn't been run against real data, it's a one-line addition to an existing value list following the exact same pattern as the other values already there.

vector/tilemaker/process-otm.lua classifies surface into "unpaved" for
the streets_med/streets vector layers, but the value list was missing
laterite (approved via OSM's proposal process, 29-0-0,
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposal:Surface=laterite,
documented at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:surface=laterite),
rock, and sand, all of which are unpaved natural surfaces in the same
vein as the dirt/gravel/mud/ground values already in the list.

Scoped to just the missing values in this list. The raster renderer
(mapnik/opentopomap.xml) doesn't use surface for paved/unpaved styling
at all currently, that's a separate, much bigger gap out of scope here.
@julcnx

julcnx commented Aug 17, 2026

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Just wanted to check in on this one. I opened the PR adding laterite, rock, and sand to the vector unpaved surface list in process-otm.lua about three weeks ago, and it's had no comments or reviews yet. No rush at all, just making sure it hasn't slipped off the radar. Happy to adjust the approach if anything about it needs changing.

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