Tag:highway=milestone
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Description |
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Stone or metal marker on the side of a road indicating the reference and the distance travelled. ![]() ![]() |
Group: Highways |
Used on these elements |
Useful combination |
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See also |
Status: de facto![]() |
Tools for this tag |
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A highway location marker is the modern-day equivalent of a milestone. Unlike traditional milestones, however, which were originally carved from stone and sited at one-mile intervals, modern highway location markers are made from a variety of materials and, in most countries, are spaced at intervals of a kilometre or a fraction thereof.
How to map
Draw the node where the milestone is, and add highway=milestone and other tags describing the sign.
Like traffic signs, the node can be placed either directly on the way that represents the road, or separately at the physical location of the sign besides the road. The pros and cons of both methods are similar to traffic signs.
Tagging
The following features are based on those described in the article Proposed features/Milestones. This tag has not been approved but is widely used.
Key | Value | Description | Recommendation |
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highway | milestone | It's a highway milestone. The position of the node, member of highway way or in place is subject to discussion | mandatory |
distance | <Milestone distance> | A number being the distance from the beginning of the road. Decimal numbers specified with points are allowed. If no unit is explicitly given, the unit is assumed to be kilometres. To specify a different unit, add a space after the number, then the unit abbreviation (e.g., 35.0 mi) |
optional |
ref | <Milestone reference> | Only to be used if the milestone actually has a reference number written on it. (Otherwise, consider using unsigned_ref=*.) | optional |
carriageway_ref | <Milestone carriageway reference> | When the milestone refers to a specific carriageway of a road, put the road number in ref=* and the carriageway indication in carriageway_ref=*. Only to be used if the milestone actually has a carriageway reference written on it. | optional |
marker | <Milestone shape> | Visual shape of milestone, usually stone, plate, or post | optional |
See a discussion on the tagging list in May 2013 suggests distance=* is a better choice than either pk=* or kp=*.
Similar tags
For "modern" milestones look at
For "historic" milestones look at
For utility markers look at