[Talk-us] REF tags for State Highways on ways

[Nathan Edgars II]

On 4/9/2011 8:41 AM, Craig Hinners wrote:
>     * At the conceptual level, the same string should not be used to
>       represent the networks of multiple states, and some state-unique
>       ID, be it the USPS two-letter abbreviation or otherwise, is needed.
Why? We use the same prefixes for many countries, and many countries 
have duplicate internal numbering systems (M1 north of London and in 
Northern Ireland).
>
> There is nothing stopping anyone from tagging state highways with
> conceptual-level tags this instant. One could, say, add
> "highway:network:us:fl=123" tags to Florida state highway 123, leaving
> the ref tag as "SR 123". Map users see something they're familiar with
> ("SR" instead of "FL"), and automated agents of OSM data get a unique
> key to identify the concept of "that network of highways in the US state
> of Florida". It's a win-win.
This doesn't work because of overlaps. What network would the overlap of 
NY 55 and CR 11 be in? http://www.gribblenation.net/nyends/55.html Or, 
hell, the already-mentioned example of Arkansas's 20 and Missouri's 43 
along the state line? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:End_Missouri_43.jpg