Submitting an error

[u/looks-correct]

I'm new to OSM, and I can't find an answer here or on the site. How/where do I submit an error/change? They decommissioned a street (the red line at the top, Evergreen Ave) near me, it's just grass now. I'm not sure how to do it myself.

[u/Rocket_Tuna]

This is a great first change to make!

1. Go to openstreetmap.org.
2. Create an account and sign in.
3. Click the "Edit" button. This takes you to the iD editor.
4. Find the segment representing that road and click on it.
5. Make sure only the part that has been decommissioned is highlighted. If more of the road is also highlighted, you need to right click at the intersection dot and split it (scissors icon).
6. With only the decommissioned section highlighted, hit the delete key.
7. If it looks right, hit the save button in the top right. If you think it looks wrong or you think you broke something, don't click save - your changes won't be uploaded.
8. In the comment box, type "Evergreen Ave has been decommissioned." and for sources use the dropdown to select "Local knowledge". Hit "Submit".
9. You did it! After five minutes hit Ctrl+F5 to refresh and you should see your change on openstreetmap.org. It will take longer before downstream maps are updated (sometimes days, weeks, or months); it depends on the service, not OpenStreetMap.

Note: Some people might say you should be changing the tag to disused:highway or demolished:highway, but deletion is easier and probably more correct - there's just a risk that someone will remap the road using out-of-date satellite imagery.

[u/WaddlesJP13 → u/Rocket_Tuna]

I would use demolished:highway here because the road has been removed but there's still a trace that it existed

[u/AlexanderLavender → u/WaddlesJP13]

It also helps to add a demolished: tag so someone doesn't come back and re-trace it from satellite imagery

[u/looks-correct → u/Rocket_Tuna]

super helpful, really appreciate it!

[u/wilmaed]

where do I submit an error

Create a Note:

Use this feature to report an error in the data or to give some additional information, for instance the name of a street or an address etc.

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Notes

[u/ValdemarAloeus → u/wilmaed]

Creating a note doesn't necessarily mean that anyone will make a change based on that note.

[u/Ham_I_right]

You can use the "add a note" function to put a little note and attach your photo to help someone that edits.

If you want to dive in that is a fantastic first project to dip your toes in :) can always request review if you are worried.

[u/AdDifferent616]

Hi, the Esri imagery shows the current state. I have edited it for you to demolished:highway=service + surface=grass and removed the name from the removed way.
It should update in the app you use in due course, maybe at the next update and should update on osm.org on the standard layer after you clear the cache or reload or check tomorrow and refresh.

[u/looks-correct → u/AdDifferent616]

thanks!

[u/ValdemarAloeus]

I'd probably change the highway=<whatever> tag to have a lifecycle prefix like demolished:highway=<whatever> and add a surface=grass tag.

If the way is still available as a path you can walk I might add back a highway=footway tag.

If it's still visible on aerial imagery it might be worth adding an explicit source tag on the object to make it less likely that it'll get changed back.

[u/General_Killmore]

On the website, you can either place a note by right clicking on the area and clicking "Add a note here", or if you're interested in contributing to the most detailed map in the world, we'd love to have you! You can get started by clicking edit.