[Talk-GB] route relations type=road

[Derick Rethans]

On Sat, 5 Dec 2015, Dave F. wrote:

> I know this has been discussed before , but recent edits by user: 
> abc26324 <http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/abc26324> prompts me to 
> ask/verify again the point of road relations in the UK. Example:
> 
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/103301#map=10/51.2112/-2.5578
> 
> Route relations are meant to represent, err... routes taken by people 
> that transverse multiple different ways; such as bus cycle etc & not 
> just a 'collection' of things, especially when they can easily be 
> collated/extracted from the ref on the actual way.
> 
> I notice even the M4/M5 have one apiece. This has lead to tag 
> duplication which can never be a good thing.
> 
> Are there any roads in GB where references are shared? If not, I see 
> no reason for their existence.

My wife (works for DfT, did road ref assignments) claims that a road 
segment can not share more than one ref. The "norwegian" situation of 
the 32/35 like at 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/329206956#map=13/59.5053/10.1548 can 
not happen in the UK. In the UK, that situation is the A14 and A11 where 
the A11 disappears for a strech to come back later. (Between junctions 
36 and 38, 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/367772226#map=12/52.2445/0.3914)

The only "exception" is that roads with a ref can have names attached to 
them too, but they're "unofficial" (such as the example at 
http://www.openstreetmap.org/way/232728113#map=19/51.53625/-0.19143 
which is both A5 and "Kilburn high Road").

There is some info in 
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315783/road-classification-guidance.pdf, 
but it's a bit vague on this part.


cheers,
Derick