Where put the nodes on a street?

General talk
1

Hello!

I am really new to OSM and have a basic question about the nodes of a street way:
When the street has an even number of lanes (i.e. 2.), then I assume I have to place the nodes of the ways in the MIDDLE of the road (aka between the left and right lane. On the middle roadmark in other words).

But where do I place the nodes on a street with an odd number of lanes?

  1. If I have a oneway street with one lane: Do I put the nodes in the middle of the road?
  2. If I have a road with 3 lanes: 2 forward and 1 backward: Do I place the nodes in the middle of the middle lanes (the innermost forward lane)? Is this correct?

Greetings

2

You’re right, always place the nodes in the middle.
However, there is a proposal that “allows” you to place the nodes in other places in order to obtain a straight line, see http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/placement
There is a plugin for JOSM that supports this proposal.

3

Thanks for your answer!

Two additional questions:

  1. Is it save to use this proposal? Or should I avoid using it since its “experimental” and may not be supported by other importers?
  2. How do you place nodes on a road where lanes appear/disappear? I made a little sketch:

    The placement of the nodes (red dots) on the left side is clear: Middle of inner lane.
    The placement on the right side (4 lanes) is also clear (blue dots).
    But how should I place my dots on the transition zone (green dots)?

Thanks!

4

according to the proposal the green dots are fine, but the segment should be tagged as “placement=transition”. If you don’t follow the proposal you will probably have to draw it in the same way and hope the data consumer will react properly

there are several different views on “proposals”. some will avoid them until they are voted and accepted. other will be happy that there is at least some documentation. And another group look at taginfo on how popular the tagging is before they start using it.

Look for e.g.at the heritage tag. This is also a proposal, but the makers of the geschichtskarte support which means that there is at least some support for it.

I decided that I can use the tag since there is a JOSM plugin that helps with it. I can’t make the decision for you.