New Zealand/Road network

This page is concerned with establishing consensus on how to map New Zealand road network.

Road Classification

See Highway:International equivalence#New Zealand

Route Roads

NZ has five types of road routes, each of which have a different shield. The best way of viewing this infomation is via OpenStreetMap Americana.

Road routes are represented by relations which have a network=* tag.

Table of Road Routes

Description	Network Tag	Shields
State Highways	network=NZ:SH
Urban Routes	network=NZ:UR
Touring Routes	network=NZ:Touring:CNZWT network=NZ:Touring:CNZWT network=NZ:Touring:TCDH network=NZ:Touring:VLH network=NZ:Touring:PCH network=NZ:Touring:TEH network=NZ:Touring:SSR network=NZ:Touring:MWT	(no example photos yet)
Tourist Routes	network=NZ:Tourist (there's only 1 there's only 1)	(no example photo yet)
Miscellaneous Routes	network=NZ:WRR (there's only 1 there's only 1)

TODO

• Urban Route numbers are not unique, e.g. there's Urban Route 4 in Auckland Urban Route 4 in Auckland and a different one in Hamilton a different one in Hamilton. NZ:UR networks should probably be separated by councils.
• Are Hamilton Ring Road Hamilton Ring Road and Christchurch Ring Road Christchurch Ring Road considered Urban Routes? They don't seem to conform to TCD manual (which in Part 2 implies that Urban Routes have only numbers) but use Urban Route shields. Christchurch Ring Road uses Highway Gothic (standard typeface) R but Hamilton Ring Road uses stylised HR.

State highways

Location referencing

Waka Kotahi uses so-called Location referencing management system (LRMS) for assigning unique reference numbers to distance markers (reference stations, established reference positions, kilometre markers), large intersections and large roundabouts. Additionally, bridges use a system based on LRMS.

All location references start with xxx- where xxx is the code for the State Highway. This is the State Highway's number as a 3 character code with leading zeroes, e.g. 002 for SH 2, 03A for SH 3A and 67A for SH 67A. The only exception is SH 1 which uses 01N in the North Island (with distances measured from Cape Reinga roundabout) and 01S in the South Island (with distances measured from Picton Ferry Terminal).

Distance markers

There are three types of distance markers: reference stations (RS), established reference positions (ERP) and kilometre marker posts (KMP). All three should be mapped with highway=milestone.

Reference stations are mapped as:
highway=milestone
distance=the number on the RS
ref=xxx-nnnn

xxx is the State Highway code explained above, nnnn is the reference distance as a 4 digit number with leading zeroes, e.g. a marker with SH 2 shield and distance 262 will have ref=002-0262. Remember that SH 1 has two codes: 01N for the North Island and 01S for the South Island.

On divided highways, the reference number may be suffixed with -I for the side travelling in the direction in which distances increase or -D for the side travelling in the direction in which distances decrease. These are part of the ref tag: ref=002-0262-D.

Established reference positions are mapped as:
highway=milestone
distance=the numbers on the ERP added together
ref=xxx-nnnn/d.dd

The distance is the two numbers added together, e.g for ERP 262/3.12, the distance is 265.12. xxx-nnnn in the reference numbers follow the same rules as for reference stations and d.dd is the number after the slash. If there are only zeroes after the decimal point, they are still part of the reference number, e.g. ref=002-0262/6.00. Just like reference stations, these can be suffixed by -I or -D on divided highways which is added after the d.dd part, e.g. ref=002-0262/3.12-D.

Kilometre marker posts are mapped as:
highway=milestone
distance=the numbers on the KMP added together
ref=xxx-nnnn/d

The distance is the two numbers added together, e.g. for KMP 262 | 20, the distance is 282. xxx-nnnn in the reference numbers follow the same rules as for reference stations and d is the number below the line, e.g. ref=002-0262/20. Just like reference stations, these can be suffixed by -I or -D on divided highways which is added after the d part, e.g. ref=002-0262/20-D.

KMP reference numbers are distinguished from ERP by not having a decimal point.

TODO

• Additional tag to distinguish between RSes, ERPs and KMPs?
• Tag ramp markers (Rn signs with OFF, ON and END)? They probably should not use highway=milestone.

Intersections

Some large intersections have location references. These are sometimes shown on traffic signs (mostly around Auckland) but more often are only on ramp markers. These are markers with the words OFF, ON or END below Rn where n is a sequential number. The number below the green line is the intersection number that should be used on related highway=motorway_junction. If the location reference is not shown on traffic signs, it should be used for unsigned_ref=* instead of ref.

Roundabouts

Some large roundabouts have location references. These are always shown on a sign inside the roundabout, typically opposite the entrance of the State Highway in the direction of increasing distances. The sign has always suffix -W. These roundabouts should be mapped with ref=xxx-nnnn-W where xxx is the State Highway code explained above and nnnn is the number on the sign as a 4 digit number with leading zeroes, e.g. roundabout with sign 262-W on SH 2 will have ref=002-0262-W. Remember that SH 1 has two codes: 01N for the North Island and 01S for the South Island.

Bridges

Bridges on State Highways are mapped as areas (in addition to ways with bridge=*) with the following tags:
man_made=bridge
layer=whatever the way has
name=if the name is known
ref=xxx-nnnnn

xxx is the State Highway code explained above, nnnnn is the bridge number as a 5 digit number with leading zeroes, e.g. bridge 626 on SH 2 has ref=002-00626. (Bridge numbers are generally derived from distance in multiplies of 100 metres, i.e. 626 would likely start at kilometre 62.6, but are sometimes shifted so that no two bridges have the same number on the same State Highway.) Remember that SH 1 has two codes: 01N for the North Island and 01S for the South Island.

The bridge number is located on a sign typically shown at both ends of the bridge, or sometimes under it if it's a bridge over a State Highway. If each end has a different number, it is actually two bridges side by side and should be mapped as such. If the bridge has two separate parts but both ends use the same number, the bridge should be mapped as a multipolygon.