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An open dataset containing all Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRNs) from OS MasterMap Highways Network with a simplified line geometry.
This product is updated monthly.
A USRN is a unique and persistent identifier for every street, road, track, path, cycle track or cycle way in Great Britain.
Our Open USRN product contains USRNs across Great Britain. USRNs are the authoritative identifier assigned to and uniquely identifying streets, and are essential for managing Great Britain's highways. Once it's allocated to a street record, a USRN will never change or be reused.
The USRNs in OS Open USRN are allocated by Highway or Road Authorities and Highway Bodies, under their statutory responsibility to maintain this information. This means you can have confidence you’re accessing an authoritative source of these identifiers.
All USRNs present in OS MasterMap Highways Network are also included in this product – so you can be sure you’re not missing out.
OS Open USRN will enable you to start sharing and linking together information about USRNs which you can visualise with a location.
OS Open USRN enables users to:
Share information held against a USRN with a location.
Link together information associated with USRNs.
Access: Download
Data theme: Transport
Data structure: Vector – Identifiers
Coverage: Great Britain
Scale: 1:1 250 to 1:10 000
Format: GeoPackage
Ordering area: All of Great Britain
OS Data Hub plan: OS OpenData Plan (FREE), Premium Plan, Public Sector Plan, Energy & Infrastructure Plan
Access to this product is free through the OS Data Hub.
OS Open Identifiers Family Information – This page gives context and information about the OS Open Identifiers 'Family' of products, including explaining what identifiers are and introducing the OS identifiers (TOID, UPRN and USRN). We recommend referring to this page in combination with the Overview and Technical Specification documents for OS Open USRN.
OS Open USRN is part of the OS Open Identifiers 'Family' of products, which includes four OpenData products: OS Open Linked Identifiers, OS Open TOID, OS Open UPRN and OS Open USRN. The products within this family allow you to easily share information held against a range of identifiers and to link together information associated with these identifiers.
This release note provides information about the July 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the November 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
GeoPlace Streets Data
05 April 2024
Improvement Service Streets Data
06 June 2024
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content
05 June 2024
OS Open USRN
1 725 313
GeoPlace Streets Data
04 October 2024
Improvement Service Streets Data
04 October 2024
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content
03 October 2024
OS Open USRN
1 741 843
Release notes for the OS Open USRN product.
This release note provides information about the November 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the October 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the September 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the August 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the July 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the May 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This release note provides information about the April 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
This overview introduces OS Open USRN and gives context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of potential uses, and listing details such as supply formats, currency, etc.
OS Open USRN is an open dataset of all Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRNs) within , with an associated simplified line geometry representing the geographic extent of each USRN.
A USRN is 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.
This product has been designed to enable users to easily share information held against a USRN with a location and to link together information associated with USRNs, enabling location-specific visualisation and analysis.
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility that means they are the source of information for both street naming and managing the highways / roads network. Each authority is provided with a USRN range that is centrally allocated and managed by GeoPlace in England and Wales, and by the Improvement Service in Scotland.
The key features of the OS Open USRN product are:
Inclusion of all live USRNs published within the OS MasterMap Highways Network, including Type 1, 2, 3 and 4 streets.
A simplified line geometry representing the geographic extent of each street, with a single line feature for each USRN.
OS Open USRN enables users to:
Share information held against a USRN with a location.
Link together information associated with USRNs.
Conduct location-specific visualisation and analysis.
This overview includes the following sections:
Attribution that includes the USRN identifier and .
Information about the structure of the product can be found in the .
This product has not been designed to be used for the street or road works statutory processes where the necessary additional detail for coordination is found in either the National Street Gazetteer (NSG) for England and Wales or the Street Gazetteer for Scotland. Nor does the product provide a topologically structured network suitable for road routing, where the additional detail and complexity provided in is required.
This release note provides information about the August 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
GeoPlace Streets Data
04 July 2024
Improvement Service Streets Data
05 July 2024
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content
03 July 2024
OS Open USRN
1 734 386
On this page you'll find product supply information for OS Open USRN, including THE available format, the supply mechanism and the currency.
This product is only available in GeoPackage format. It is supplied as a single GeoPackage for the whole of Great Britain.
GeoPackage (GPKG) is an open standard data format as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). GeoPackage is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy-to-distribute and ready-to-use file.
Please be advised that older versions of GIS software may need updating before being able to display and interact with GeoPackage files.
GeoPackage offers users the following benefits:
The single file is easy to transfer and offers the end-user a rich experience.
Attribute names are not limited in length, making it user-friendly.
The file size limit is very large at 140TB, so lots of data can be easily accommodated (please note that a file size limit may be imposed by the file system to which the file is written).
It supports raster, vector and database formats, making it a highly versatile solution.
It is an OGC standard.
In most cases, it is a plug and play format.
For information on how to open, use and understand a GeoPackage dataset, please refer to our ‘Getting Started with GeoPackage’ guide. Further detailed information on GeoPackage can be taken from the GeoPackage website.
OS Open USRN is supplied as a free online download and is available without registration from the OS Data Hub.
This product covers Great Britain and includes all USRNs which are present in OS MasterMap Highways Network.
OS Open USRN is available as a Full Supply only. Areas of interest (AOI) orders and Change-Only Updates (COUs) are not available for this product.
The product will be refreshed on a monthly basis (in-line with the OS MasterMap Highways Network product release on the first working day of each month).
This release note provides information about the May 2024 release of OS Open USRN
This technical specification provides detailed technical information about OS Open USRN. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
OS Open USRN is an open dataset of all Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRNs) within , with an associated simplified line geometry representing the geographic extent of each USRN.
A USRN is 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.
This product has been designed to enable users to easily share information held against a USRN with a location and to link together information associated with USRNs, enabling location-specific visualisation and analysis.
OS Open USRN is a vector dataset with a single line feature for each USRN. Each of these features will have accompanying attribution and a simplified line geometry.
The following pages will detail the attribution held against the features in this dataset and provide further information about the source and simplification of the geometry.
This technical specification includes the following sections:
The details what coordinate reference system is used by OS Open USRN and gives product supply information (including the available format, supply mechanism, coverage and currency).
GeoPlace Streets Data | 05 April 2024 |
Improvement Service Streets Data | 05 April 2024 |
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content | 05 April 2024 |
OS Open USRN | 1 725 313 |
This release note provides information about the October 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
GeoPlace Streets Data | 04 September 2024 |
Improvement Service Streets Data | 04 September 2024 |
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content | 05 September 2024 |
Feature | Count |
OS Open USRN | 1 736 545 |
These pages describe the single feature type (OS Open USRN) available for the OS Open USRN product. The attributes associated with the feature type are listed on the following page. The following information is given for each attribute.
The name of the attribute and what it is describing.
The nature of the attribute (for example, a numeric value).
The maximum length of the values in the attribute.
Describes how many times this element is expected to be populated in the data. An attribute may be optional or mandatory within the OS Open USRN product and this is denoted by:
'1’ – Mandatory: There must be a value.
‘0..1’ – Optional: If populated, a maximum of one attribute will be returned.
This release note provides information about the September 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
GeoPlace Streets Data
06 August 2024
Improvement Service Streets Data
05 August 2024
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content
06 August 2024
OS Open USRN
1 735 643
This release note provides information about the April 2024 release of OS Open USRN.
GeoPlace Streets Data
05 March 2024
Improvement Service Streets Data
05 March 2024
OS Road, Path, and Routing Content
05 March 2024
OS Open USRN
1 723 980
A USRN is assigned to the complete street feature and is made up on junction-to-junction segments. It is mandatory for all USRNs to be assigned a Street Type. All streets must have a Type 1 or a Type 2 USRN assigned, but a Type 3 or Type 4 USRN can also represent the same sections of carriageway that the Type 1 or 2 are assigned to.
The following table provides the definitions for different Street Types:
The following table provides the definitions for Street Type values:
| Value | Definition | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Definition |
|---|---|
Designated Street Name
Official Street Name approved by the relevant authority.
Type 1
High Street, Main Street
Officially Described Street
Description of a street where an official street name has not been provided.
Type 2
Road from Littleton to Fred Farm
Numbered Street
A route or road number allocated by a highway or roads authority.
Type 3
A11
Unofficial Street Name
Street Name that references a Street or part of a Street that is an unofficial local name not designated by the authority.
Type 4
Lovers Lane
Designated Street Name
Officially named street.
Officially Described Street
Officially described street.
Numbered Street
Officially numbered street.
Unofficial Street Name
Unofficial local name for a street.
Street for addressing purposes only
A street which has been created for addressing purposes of the Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) in English or Welsh Street Naming Authorities.
The OS Open USRN product uses the British National Grid (BNG) coordinate reference system (CRS).
BNG uses the OSGB36 (EPSG 27700) 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 specify a vertical (height) reference system.
Please view our 'Guide to Coordinate Systems in Great Britain' for more information on CRSs.
A JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) file containing version information will be supplied with the product, including the information given in the table below:
| Attribute Name | Source | Data Type | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
The following sub-sections provide details about the attributes included with the single feature type (OS Open USRN) in the product:
A non-persistent integer which is autogenerated and is required within the OGC GeoPackage format.
Type: Integer
Multiplicity: [1]
Unique Street Reference Number (USRN), a unique and persistent identifier assigned by the Roads or Highway Authority.
Type: Integer
Size: 8
Multiplicity: [1]
The type of Street assigned by the Roads or Highway Authority.
See the for allowable values.
Type: Text
Size: 35
Multiplicity: [1]
The aggregated geometry of either matched OS Road Links or the Elementary Street Units.
Type: Geometry (MultiLineString)
Multiplicity: [1]
For more information, see the page.
filename
osopenusrn_YYYYMM
Text
Filename with the publication date of OS Open USRN
productPublicationDate
date of OpenUSRNs product publication
Date
Format YYYY-MM
sourceProduct1.productName
"OS MasterMap Highways Network"
Text
Constant
sourceProduct1.productPublicationDate
publication date of Highways release
Date
Format YYYY-MM
The line geometry provided for each USRN is an aggregation of multiple links to ensure that there is a 1:1 relationship between the USRN and a feature. Each USRN will be represented by a single line feature and each line feature will have a single USRN identifier.
OS Open USRN will include geometry sourced from both Ordnance Survey and Roads or Highways Authorities. Where possible, the geometry of streets captured by a Roads or Highway Authority is spatially matched to the geometry of OS Road Links and Path Links. Where this match is successful, OS geometry is used as the source geometry to represent the extent of the Street. Where spatial matching cannot match the geometry captured by the Roads or Highway Authority to OS geometry, the Roads or Highway Authority geometry is used as the source geometry to represent the extent of the Street. Using a combination of geometry sourced from OS and the Roads or Highway Authorities results in all USRNs being spatially represented in OS Open USRN.
Geometry simplification is the process of reducing the scale and complexity of the data whilst maintaining the important elements and characteristics of the features. The line geometry provided for each Street has been simplified to ensure that it provides the most suitable geometry for the purposes of openly sharing and linking information against the USRN, whilst ensuring the integrity of the USRN representation.
This simplification means that:
The number of vertices representing the curvature of streets has been reduced.
Short cul-de-sacs and slip roads are not supplied.
Complex configurations of the road network are represented by a simplified depiction, such as large roundabouts, complex junctions and traffic islands.
This simplification process will never result in the loss of complete USRNs; all features with a unique USRN will not be removed.
Due to the generalisation of the geometry, we recommend a viewing scale range of 1:15 000 to 1:30 000.
It is to be expected that there will be multiple representations of a piece of road or path. Where Type 3 and Type 4 USRN geometry exists, they will overlap Type 1 or Type 2 geometry. For example, Alan Drayton Way is represented by a Type 1 geometry (Alan Drayton Way) and a Type 3 geometry (B3037).
In England, overlapping USRN geometries may also occur where Highways England have an additional USRN allocated for the same street. This is due to Highways England being the responsible authority for trunk roads in England and they will therefore assign USRNs accordingly, whilst Local Highway Authorities will capture all the streets within their authority area, even if they are not responsible.
Additionally, multiple USRN geometries may exist for the same street where the Local Highway Authority boundaries are defined by the centreline of the street, where the geometry will be represented as overlapping.
Please note, the responsible authority information for USRNs is not provided in this product, but is available in OS MasterMap Highways Network.
