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OS MasterMap Highways Network Product Guide

The OS MasterMap Highways Network product family provides an authoritative road and path network for Great Britain. The products are the result of collaboration between Ordnance Survey, GeoPlace and Improvement Service to bring together Ordnance Survey’s detailed road and path information, the National Street Gazetteer (NSG), the Trunk Road Street Gazetteer (TRSG) and the Scottish Street Gazetteer (SSG).

The Highways Network integrates the Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) from the gazetteers with the most detailed definitive geometry from Ordnance Survey. The OS MasterMap Highways Network was produced in partnership with GeoPlace and the Local Government Association, and as of March 2021, it contains data created and maintained by Scottish Local Government.

The OS MasterMap Highways Network family of products includes a road network, a path network, connectivity across British islands through a ferry network, plus routing and asset management information.

The product family includes three products:

OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads
OS MasterMap Highways Network – Routing and Asset Management Information (RAMI)
OS MasterMap Highways Network – Paths

About GeoPlace

GeoPlace is a limited liability partnership jointly owned by the Local Government Association and Ordnance Survey. It is responsible for compiling and maintaining the National Street Gazetteer (NSG).

This is the definitive referencing system used in the notification process and the coordination of street works. Under legislation, each highway authority in England and Wales is required to create and maintain its own Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) and Associated Street Data (ASD); these are then compiled into the only master index built to the national standard (BS 7666).

Standards

The OS MasterMap Highways Network has been designed to be INSPIRE compliant. INSPIRE is the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe. It is designed to ensure that the spatial data infrastructures of the Member States of the European Community are compatible and usable between member states to improve decision making and operations. The INSPIRE Transport Networks Data Specification forms the basis of the specifications for the three OS MasterMap Highways Network products.

Technical specifications

OS MasterMap Highways Network specifications have also been extended to include additional properties included in British Standard 7666-1:2006, spatial datasets for geographical referencing.

Coordinate reference system

The coordinate reference system used by OS MasterMap Highways Network is the British National Grid. The British National Grid (BNG) spatial reference system uses the OSGB36 geodetic datum and a single Transverse Mercator projection for the whole of Great Britain. Positions on this projection are described using easting and northing coordinates in units of metres. The BNG is a horizontal spatial reference system only; it does not include a vertical (height) reference system.

In the Geography Markup Language (GML) data, this is represented by reference to its entry in the EPSG registry, as http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700.

Key features of the products

OS MasterMap Highways Network products contain several features, including the following:

Unique Street Reference Number (USRN)
Road names from the naming and numbering authority
Department for Transport (DfT) road classifications
Road maintenance authority
Motorway junction to junction information
Routing information
Vehicle height, weight, width and length restrictions information
Special designations
Road reinstatement information
Connected network across Great Britain, including islands, through the Ferry Network

One of the key strengths of the products is the collection of street information at the local highway authority level. The benefit of this is that the data capture is at the earliest point of creation within a local highway authority and there is detailed local knowledge driven by statutory requirements.

Product applications

OS MasterMap Highways Network is designed to be used as a single source of highway asset management by private and public sectors alike. It can be used for the following applications:

As a source for legal road identifications
To estimate costs or benefits of road policies
For efficient funding allocations and evidence-based policy making, including:
- Managing policies
- Producing statistics
- Allocating funding
- Supporting legislation
Asset management
Journey planning, routing and navigation
Emergency service and civil contingency planning
Transport planning
Smart cities

Feature types

Overview of the feature types included in the products

OS MasterMap Highways Network products' features are classified into feature types. Each feature type has associated attribution, and further detail of this can be found in each product's technical specification.

Core features included in the Roads product

Road Link
Road Node
Road
Street
Road Junction
Ferry Link
Ferry Node
Ferry Terminal

Core features included in the RAMI product

Road Link
Road Node
Road
Street
Road Junction
Ferry Link
Ferry Node
Ferry Terminal
Access Restrictions
Turn Restrictions
Restrictions For Vehicles
Hazards
Structures
Maintenance
Reinstatement
Highways Dedication
Special Designation

Core features included in the Paths product

Path Link
Path Node
Connecting Link
Connecting Node
Path
Street
Ferry Link
Ferry Node
Ferry Terminal
Maintenance
Reinstatement
Highways Dedication
Special Designation

Comparison of the feature types included across the three products

The following comparison table details the feature types present within the OS MasterMap Highways Network products. The letter Y indicates that a feature type is present in a product, whereas the letter N indicates that a feature type is not present in a product.

Road Link (present in Roads & RAMI products)

A Road Link is a line segment representing the general alignment of the road carriageway. It can represent single carriageways, dual carriageways, slip roads, roundabouts and indicative trajectories across traffic squares. It defines the geometry and connectivity of a road network between two points. Road Links hold information on the road name, classification, form, length and other attributes which are specified in the OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads Technical Specification.

Road Node (Roads, RAMI, and RAMI and Speed products)

A Rode Node is a topological node connecting to at least one Road Link, providing network connectivity. It is a point used to represent connectivity between road links or the end of a road. A Road Node will hold information on its classification, and if it forms a part of a numbered junction, then the Road Node will provide this number.

Path Link (Paths product)

A Path Link is a line segment representing the alignment of a path. Path links hold information about the name of the path, its length and its nature, alongside other attribution which is detailed in the OS MasterMap Highways Network – Paths Technical Specification. Path Links define the geometry and connectivity of the Path Network between two points.

Example map of a residential area. Road Links are displayed as red lines and are connected to Road Nodes, which are displayed as red circles. Path Links are displayed as green lines and are connected to Path Nodes, which are displayed as green circles. Connecting Links are displayed as blue lines and are connected to Connecting Nodes, which are displayed as blue circles. The Connecting Links and Connecting Nodes form the connection between the road and path network.

Path Links will be captured where:

They provide a route that cannot be inferred from the Road Network.
They provide connectivity between road networks.
There is a canal path or tow path
There are paths over footbridges and under subways Path Links will not be captured where:
- They run parallel to the Road Network, for example, a pavement.
- They are within school boundaries and cemeteries where there are closing times.
- They are connected to a Motorway.
- There is a physical obstruction which prevents connectivity.
- There are multiple paths that essentially serve the same purpose when some rationalisation is applied.

Path Node (Paths product)

A Path Node is a topological node connecting to at least one Path Link, providing network connectivity. It is a point used to represent connectivity between path links or the end of a road.

Connecting Link (Paths product)

The Road and Path Network are topologically structured together. Connecting Links enable this connection between the Road Network and the Path Network. A Connecting Link is a line segment which represents a logical connection between the Path Network and the Road Network; it does not represent a real-world feature.

Connecting Node (Paths product)

A Connecting Node is a point feature which identifies where a Path connects to the Road Network. The Connecting Node connects to the start or end of one or more RoadLinks and are spatially coincident with RoadNodes.

Road (Roads, RAMI, and RAMI and Speed products)

A Road feature holds information about road names and road numbers which have been captured by Ordnance Survey. A Road feature will reference the Road Links which share the same name (for example, Wellington Road in the image below) or number (for example, the A41 in the lower image), irrespective of which local authority is responsible for it. The link set may not be contiguous across junctions or where a road consists of separate sections, which may be separated by some considerable distance. A Road Link could be referenced by multiple Road features.

Path (Paths product)

A Path feature is like a Road feature as it holds information about path names which have been captured by Ordnance Survey. A Path feature is a link set which will reference the Path Links which share the same name, irrespective of which local authority is responsible for it. A Path Link could be referenced by multiple Path features.

Street (all OS MasterMap Highways Network products)

The Street feature is the definition of the street as defined in the National or Scottish Street Gazetteer. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility which means that they are the source of information for both street naming and managing the highways/roads network.

Each Street feature has a USRN, a unique and persistent identifier for a street contained in either the National or Scottish Street Gazetteer. Every street, road, track, path, cycle track or way is assigned a USRN by a Roads Authority, Local Highway Authority or Highways England. Each authority is provided a USRN range that is centrally allocated and managed by GeoPlace in England and Wales and by Improvement Service in Scotland.

A Street feature encompasses both Roads and Paths. Therefore, a Street feature will reference the Road Links or Path Links. Where a Street crosses an administrative boundary, a new Street feature will be created. A Road Link or Path Link could be referenced by multiple Street features.

The Street features which are supplied with the Routing and Asset Management Information product will contain all Street features which have either been matched to at least one Road Link or have not been matched. The Street features which are supplied with the Paths product will only contain Street features which have only been matched to a Path Link.

Road Junction (Roads, RAMI, and RAMI and Speed products)

A Road Junction holds information about junction names and numbers. The feature will reference all the Road Nodes which correspond to the junction the feature is representing. Multiple Road Junction features could reference a Road Node. In the current release, the Road Junction feature will only identify Numbered Motorway Junctions.

Ferry Link (present in all OS MasterMap Highways Network products)

A Ferry Link is a line segment that connects the road network and path networks across bodies of water. The link can represent the route a ferry may take between terminals; otherwise, the link will be a straight line between two terminals. In addition to connectivity information, a Ferry Link also provides data on who operates the service and if the service is limited to pedestrians. A Ferry Link will only be captured where both terminals are within Great Britain and where there is a timetabled service available to the public.

Ferry Node (present in all OS MasterMap Highways Network products)

A Ferry Node is a point feature which identifies where the Ferry Network terminates. They will always be referenced by at least one Ferry Link.

Ferry Terminal (present in all OS MasterMap Highways Network products)

The road and path networks are connected to the ferry network through the Ferry Terminal feature, which acts as a network connection feature. The Ferry Terminal is a logical connection and therefore no geometry is supplied. In addition to connecting the networks together, the Ferry Terminal feature will also provide the terminal name and the three-letter NaPTAN code used by the Government to identify terminals uniquely.

Access Restrictions (present in RAMI and RAMI and Speed products)

An Access Restriction is a feature where access to a road or area by vehicles can be legally prohibited. Prohibited access restrictions are indicated by regulatory signs with a red circle or a no entry sign. In addition, access could be limited for use by particular classes of vehicle; these are indicated by regulatory signs with a blue circle. Access restrictions may also include exemptions to the restriction. The Access Restriction feature type comprises these types of restrictions.

Turn Restrictions (present in RAMI and RAMI and Speed products)

A Turn Restriction is a restriction based upon a vehicle manoeuvre. The types of restriction include a prohibitive driving instruction, a mandatory driving instruction and implicit restrictions. Prohibited instructions are indicated by road signs within a red circle; examples include No U-turns, No Right Turn and No Left Turn. These can include exceptions to the instruction and are typically elements like Except for Buses. Mandatory driving instructions are indicated by road signs within a blue circle or are painted on the roadway; examples include Turn Right and Ahead Only. Implicit restrictions occur where a turn is not signed as prohibited but would not be a normal manoeuvre, for example, where a road splits around a traffic island or at complex junctions where additional geometry has been captured to reflect the traffic flow. These are not differentiated from actual signed restrictions.

Restrictions For Vehicles (present in RAMI and RAMI and Speed products)

Restrictions For Vehicles are restrictions that apply to the physical characteristics of vehicles. These are required to protect structures such as bridges and tunnels from damage, or to restrict/prohibit use by vehicles that exceed dimensions, usually for physical reasons. In addition, Restrictions For Vehicles includes exemption to the restriction when specific use conditions apply (for example, loading and unloading). The restrictions include:

Maximum Height
Maximum Width
Maximum Length
Maximum Weight

Height, width, length and weight restrictions may be defined using either regulatory signs or warning signs. By default, the restriction is always provided in the metric unit, and the imperial measure will be provided where it is signed.

Hazards (present in RAMI and RAMI and Speed products)

Hazards are locations which are hazardous and where caution should be taken to ensure safe travel. Hazards are usually signed using a warning sign. Hazards include Fords and Dangerous Bends.

Structures (present in RAMI and RAMI and Speed products)

Structures are the location of key built features that relate to the highway network. The types of features provided include bridges; barriers which can control, obstruct or prevent passage or access; tunnels, and equipment which would control the flow of traffic.

Maintenance (present in RAMI, Paths, and RAMI and Speed products)

Maintenance provides information about whether a path is maintained at public expense by a national or local highway authority, by a road authority or is maintained by another responsible organisation (i.e., not maintained at public expense). If a path is prospectively maintainable at public expense, then this is not currently maintained by a road or highway authority, but the responsible organisation has started the process for a highway or road authority to become responsible for the maintenance of the street at public expense.

Maintenance responsibility is not an indication of ownership.

Reinstatement (present in RAMI, Paths, and RAMI and Speed products)

Reinstatement defines the standard to which the highway must be restored to, following opening due to works in the highway, as defined in the New Roads and Street Works Act Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways in England and Walesand the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Roads in Scotland.

Highways Dedication (present in RAMI, Paths, and RAMI and Speed products)

Highway Dedications provide an indication of the type of user who has access to that particular section of the Highway. Highway Dedications may reference public rights of way but are not a definitive record of such.

Every section of geometry supplied by a local highway authority will have a type of dedication associated, in line with the Highways Act 1980 and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which determine the highway user access.

Special Designations (present in RAMI, Paths, and RAMI and Speed products)

Special Designations are statutory and advisory designations that can be applied to protect a highway when street works are to be undertaken. Special Designations exist to reduce the bureaucracy involved in managing street works, with an emphasis on minimising delay and inconvenience to road users, whilst protecting the integrity of the street and any apparatus on it.

Average Speed (present in RAMI and Speed products)

Average Speed is the detailed historical speed information collected by in-vehicle telematics devices that collect data for all major roads. The Average Speed information is based on a year’s worth of collected data and is given for six distinct times of each day and for both directions of a road link. The Average Speed is provided in kilometres per hour (km/h) for each road link.

Speed Limits (present in RAMI and Speed products)

The Speed Limits feature identifies the speed limit for each stretch of road in Great Britain and is based on road traffic signs. The speed limit is provided in miles per hour (mph).

Product supply

Supply format

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products

OS MasterMap Highways Network– Roads and OS MasterMap Highways Network– Paths are supplied in three formats: Geography Markup Language (GML 3.2.1), Geopackage and Vector Tiles. All formats are compressed into a regular zip file (.ZIP).

OS MasterMap Highways Network – RAMI is supplied in two formats: Geography Markup Language (GML 3.2.1) and Geopackage. All formats are compressed into a regular zip file (.ZIP).

OS MasterMap Highways Network speed products

OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Average Speed is available in comma-separated value (CSV) file format only. The CSV file will be supplied with headers. The data is provided zipped as single file (.zip). Data is provided as full supply only and is refreshed annually (in May).

OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Speed Limits is available in shapefile format only. The data is provided zipped as single file (.zip). Data is provided as full supply only and is refreshed quarterly (in April, July, October and January).

Supply media

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products (Roads, Routing and Asset Management Information, and Paths) are available to PSGA, commercial customers and partners through the OS Data Hub. The products are available as both full supply and change-only update (COU) and customers can order an area of interest (AOI) or a Managed GB Set. The products are available as a download for all customers, and DVD for customers ordering a Managed GB Set.

OS MasterMap Highways Network speed products

OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Average Speed data is supplied as download only. OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Speed Limits data is also supplied as download only. Both speed products are available for partners only and can be ordered from the OS Data Hub. New OS MasterMap Highways Network with Speed contracts cannot be entered into after 29th March 2023.

Coverage

All products will cover Great Britain.

Non-geographic chunks

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products will only be supplied as non-geographic chunks. Non- geographic chunking is a way of dividing up data into chunks that are supplied in separate volumes that have a feature count, as opposed to a given geographic National Grid area. For this reason, it is possible for features from various geographic locations to appear in one volume and for adjacent features to appear in different volumes. Non-geographic chunk volumes are designed to be loaded into spatial databases but can be used in a file format if all chunks are translated or imported into the system at the same time. For information on the volume feature counts for each feature type in OS MasterMap Highways Network, please see Volume feature count.

Product packaging

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products (Roads, Routing and Asset Management Information, and Paths)

When a customer receives an order from the OS Data Hub, the product will be packaged with the following elements:

Data folder

The data folder will contain the GML, Geopackage or Vector tiles files which make up the ordered product. The data folder will have been compressed to data.zip to enable a single download of the product. Once this has been downloaded, the data.zip file will contain all the data files which make up the ordered product and these files will have been compressed using gzip.

Doc folder

For GML, the doc folder will contain a summary.gml file which will contain specific information about the customer order, including:

The order number
Query extent polygon(s) of the order
The order type: Full supply or COU
For COU orders, the change-since date

The doc folder will have been compressed to doc.zip to enable a single download of the associated documents.

The Geopackage and Vector Tiles formats will have the same folder structure but will be available for GB coverage only so will not contain COU files.

Resources folder

The resources folder will contain the product’s Feature Validation Data Set (FVDS), and a lookup table to the OS Open Roads product. For further information on these resources, please refer to the Feature validation data set, and OS Open Roads lookup table sections within this document. The folder will have been compressed to resource.zip to enable a single download of the resources; within the zipped folder, the contents will have been compressed.

OS MasterMap Highways Network speed products

When a partner receives an order from the OS Data Hub, the product will be packaged as follows:

Data folder

The data folder will contain the CSV (for Average Speed product) or shapefile (for Speed Limits product) which make up the ordered product. The data folder will have been compressed to either hnavsp_csv_gb.zip (for Average Speed) or hnsplm_shp_gb.zip (for Speed Limits) to enable a single download of the product.

Once this has been downloaded, the zip file will contain the corresponding CSV (Highways_AverageSpeed_GB.csv) or shapefiles (Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.shp) which make up the ordered product, and these files will have been compressed using zip.

Text file

A text file named Readme.txt will contain notes on the product supply and release information.

File naming

OS MasterMap Highways Network core products (Roads, Routing and Asset Management Information, and Paths)

The file naming for the OS MasterMap Highways Network GML will be constructed as Highways_ProductName_FeatureType_SupplyType_NullorDelete_volumenumber.gml.gz, where:

Highways identifies that the GML is from the OS MasterMap Highways Network product family.
ProductName is the name of the product that is being supplied, for example, Roads.
FeatureType is the name of the feature type that is being supplied in the GML file, for example, RoadLink.
SupplyType is the type of supply the GML is, for example, Full or COU.
NullorDelete will not be present in any GML file names if the GML forms part of a full supply. If the GML forms part of a COU supply, then Delete will identify if the file contains all the features which need removing from the customer holding as a part of the COU application.
volumenumber will be the volume number for the file, which will be three digits, and the first volume will be 001.

Examples of the GML file names

Highways_Roads_RoadLink_Full_001.gml.gz
Highways_RoadsAndRAM_AccessRestriction_Full_001.gml.gz
Highways_Paths_Maintenance_Full_001.gml.gz
Highways_Roads_RoadNode_COU_001.gml.gz
Highways_Roads_RoadNode_COU_Delete_001.gml.gz
Highways_RoadsAndRAM_RoadLink_COU_001.gml.gz
Highways_RoadsAndRAM_RoadLink_COU_Delete_001.gml.gz
Highways_Paths_PathLink_COU_001.gml.gz
Highways_Paths_PathLink_COU_Delete_001.gml.gz

The file naming for the OS MasterMap Highways Network Geopackage will be constructed as OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkProductName_gb.gpkg

Examples of Geopackage file names:

OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkRoad_gb.gpkg
OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkPath_gb.gpkg
OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkRAMI_gb.gpkg

The file naming for the OS MasterMap Highways Network Vector Tiles will be constructed as OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkProductName_gb.mbtiles

Examples of the Vector Tiles file names:

OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkRoad_gb.mbtiles
OSMasterMapHighwaysNetworkPath_gb.mbtiles

OS MasterMap Highways Network speed products

OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Average Speed is supplied within a zip file with the following name: hnavsp_csv_gb.zip. Within the zip file, you will find the CSV file which will contain all records and will have the following name: Highways_AverageSpeed_GB.csv.

OS MasterMap Highways Network with Routing and Asset Management Information and Speed Limits is supplied within a zip file with the following name: hnsplm_shp_gb.zip. Within the zip file, you will find the shapefile which will contain all records and will have the following named file extensions:

Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.shp
Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.prj
Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.qpj
Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.dbf
Highways_SpeedLimits_GB.shx

Feature validation data set

A feature validation data set (FVDS) reports on all the data it expects to find in the customer’s holding after the application of the supply. It does not identify what is contained in the supply if the order is not full supply. This enables a customer to validate that the data holding contains the correct set of features after loading the data with which it was supplied. All orders of the OS MasterMap Highways Network products will be supplied with a FVDS.

A FVDS is divided into files on a non-geographic basis, and each FVDS will contain up to 4 million rows in a single volume. Where a file will exceed 4 million rows, a new FVDS volume will be created. The FVDS is a comma-separated value (.csv) file that provides the ID, version date and feature type of every feature that should exist in the current data holding; the fields are separated by a comma. Each row will be terminated by Carriage Return / Line Feed, and where a field has no value in a record, two commas will be placed together in the record (one for the end of the previous field and one for the end of the null field). The FVDS will not contain any header information, but the following table identifies the different columns within the file. Each file is compressed using gzip.

Feature validation data set

ID

The ID (gml:id) of the OS MasterMap Highways Network feature.

Version Date

The 'beginLifespanVersion' attribute of the feature. This is the date when this feature came into existence, and it will be formatted as follows: YYYY-MM-DD. For example, 2016-06-12.

Feature Type

A textual description of the feature type that the record refers to.

Volume feature count

The OS MasterMap Highways Network products are only being supplied as non-geographic chunks, so the data will be supplied in volumes based on a feature count. The following table identifies the volume feature count used for each volume per feature type (maximum number of features per GML file):

Feature type

Volume feature count

OS Open Roads lookup table

OS Open Roads is part of Ordnance Survey’s open data portfolio and is a structured road network which has been generalised to 1:15 000 scale. The OS Open Roads lookup table provides the ID of the OS MasterMap Highways Network RoadLink feature and the ID of the feature which represents the same feature in the OS Open Roads product which could be either a RoadLink or a RoadNode. The lookup table will enable a customer to share information they have calculated and pinned to the OS MasterMap Highways Network easily through the OS Open Roads product. Not all RoadLink IDs from OS MasterMap Highways Network are included in the lookup table, particularly where the RoadLinks are shorter than 20m.

The lookup table has been provided as a comma-separated value (.csv) file so the attributes are separated by a comma. Each row will be terminated by Carriage Return / Line Feed, and where an attribute has no value in a record, two commas will be placed together in the record (one for the end of the previous attribute and one for the end of the null attribute). The file will be supplied with headers, and the information is detailed in the following table.

The file will be supplied with all orders of OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads or OS MasterMap Highways Network – Routing and Asset Management Information and will be a national set, including with area of interest (AOI) orders. The lookup table is updated every six months, aligned to when OS Open Roads is released. During this period, some of the OS MasterMap Highways Network RoadLink IDs could change, be removed from the product or have new IDs inserted which will not be represented in the lookup table because the OS Open Roads product has not been updated to reflect this change. The version of OS MasterMap Highways Network with which the OS Open Roads lookup table is aligned can be identified in the file name.

The file is named OSOpenRoadLookUpTable_YYYY_MM.csv, where YYYY is the four-digit year and MM is the two-digit month (for example, OSOpenRoadLookUpTable_2017_09.csv).

OS Open Roads lookup table

Constraint:

When OSOpenRoads_RoadLinkIdentifier is null, OSOpenRoads_RoadNodeIdentifier cannot be null.
When OSOpenRoads_RoadNodeIdentifier is null, OSOpenRoads_RoadLinkIdentifier cannot be null.