Curvature Map Viewer

Living in Oklahoma, it can be hard to find the rare "good" curvy roads. Most around here are spread via word of mouth, and discovering new routes can be very time consuming.

This project is an extension of Curvature which already defined an algorithm for calculating road 'curviness'

The Curvature Project depends on community-driven Open Street Maps which, while very good, do lack road surface data in many areas. For Oklahoma, I have pulled data from ODOT which contains accurate (as far as I have seen) road surface data. For other states, it is still using OSM unless enough of a need arises for adding state-specific data.

When calculating the road curvature, a few filters are applied.

Roads must be paved
Curvy Segments must last for at least a mile
Straight segments over 7 miles will split the curvy route

What is Curavature

For the math people, read the full article by the original author.

In general, Curvature values are a weighted measure of length of curves in the roadway. This correlates to curviness and fun factor. Use the following scale to give some reference:

Curvature Under 300: There might be a few fun corners on these, but these roads are predominantly straight or have long distances between each significant curve.
Curvature 300-1000: These roads have several significant corners close together. They aren't likely touring destinations unless you're stuck with otherwise straight roads in the region, but if you are looking to spice up your commute with a few corners, these might be more fun than the most direct route.
Curvature 1000-3000: This range has a lot of fun roads. They'll usually have a few dozen corners and generally feel more winding than straight.
Curvature 3000-10,000: For much of the world, this range includes the destinations roads that people may ride for hours in order to visit. These roads will usually have long sections of tight turns often for miles on end. In the northeastern US, the best roads are all in this range.
Curvature over 10,000: TThese are truly epic roads with mile upon mile of twists and turns.

Acknlowdgemnents

Adam Franco and the Curvature Project.
OpenStreet Map for detailed road data
Oklahoma Department of Transportation for Oklahoma state data

Errors and More?

If you spot any errors (roads that are actually not paved) or know of any secret roads -- reach out to me!