Apple Maps Routing Behavior on Avenue du Général-Leclerc (Paris 14ᵗʰ): A Mismatch with Ground Truth

I would like to share an observation regarding routing behavior in Apple Maps that appears to diverge from the actual functional hierarchy of the road network, using Avenue du Général-Leclerc (Paris 14ᵗʰ arrondissement) as a concrete case study.

This is not a criticism of OpenStreetMap itself, but rather an illustration of how downstream consumers of OSM data may misinterpret or inadequately model certain urban arterial roads, leading to routing results that conflict with on-the-ground reality.

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1. Ground truth: Avenue du Général-Leclerc as a structuring arterial road

On the ground, Avenue du Général-Leclerc is:
	•	a major north–south arterial road in southern Paris,
	•	classified in municipal road hierarchies as a structuring axis,
	•	fully public and continuous along its entire length,
	•	designed to carry significant urban traffic, with:
	•	multiple lanes per direction,
	•	bus lanes,
	•	protected cycling infrastructure,
	•	signalized intersections,
	•	and a clear role as a distributor between neighborhoods.

From an OpenStreetMap perspective, this avenue is correctly represented as a high-level road (primary/secondary depending on tagging conventions) and is clearly intended to function as a backbone for local and regional movement.

In short: this is exactly the kind of road that routing engines are expected to use for most trips before exiting near the destination.

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2. Observed behavior in Apple Maps

Despite this, Apple Maps exhibits the following consistent routing pattern:
	•	If the destination is located directly on Avenue du Général-Leclerc, the route correctly uses the avenue.
	•	If the destination is located on a street immediately adjacent to the avenue, even one directly connected to it, Apple Maps frequently:
	•	avoids Avenue du Général-Leclerc entirely,
	•	proposes detours through smaller residential streets,
	•	sometimes increases distance an