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Hi, After reading the left / right discussion, it crossed my mind. Isnt there a basic rule to determine the direction of a way, not a river ? I made a short scan, but didn’t come across an explanation in the WIKI. I would like to keep or use house numbers and hm signs as guidelines and logic following left and right for the sides of the ways. My apologies if I didn’t use the right key words.

asked 18 Jan '13, 21:44

Hendrikklaas's gravatar image

Hendrikklaas
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For most ways, the direction doesn't matter. It is only some specific tags which depend on the direction, eg if the tags only apply when travelling forward or backward, or refer to the left and right sides of the way.

This category on the wiki has an explanation, and contains tags which depend on the direction: Category:Way Direction Dependent

So for a typical road or path, the direction doesn't matter. It is only if it has specific tags like oneway or incline or sidewalk=left/right etc. Or if it is a member of a relation with a direction, eg a route relation with a role of forward or backward.

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answered 18 Jan '13, 23:24

Vclaw's gravatar image

Vclaw
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question asked: 18 Jan '13, 21:44

question was seen: 8,932 times

last updated: 18 Jan '13, 23:24

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum