WikiProject Belgium/Conventions/Highways

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Type	Comment
motorway	Motorways (nl: autosnelweg - fr: autoroute) have A or in some cases B (Bretelle) numbers, and many have E numbers as well (see #Reference numbers below). All roads which have the F5 traffic sign should be tagged motorway.
trunk	Some 'upgraded' primary/secondary roads that are restricted to automobiles and trucks (nl:autoweg - fr:route pour automobile) but which are not motorways. These roads have this sign F9 traffic sign. This also applies if the road has no separate roads for each direction.
primary	National roads, N-roads of the 1st and 2nd category that connect the capitals of the provinces with ref= Nx (1 to 9)or Nxx (tens from 10 to 90), or if the main traffic road is diverted through another way as by means of a ring road with ref=Rx or Rxx. See Wikipedia Belgian N roads.
secondary	The other National roads, N-roads of the 3th and 4th category, with ref=Nxx or Nxxx with digits only (no character) or important roads in large towns/cities
tertiary	All other connecting roads between villages or residential areas. Including Nx/Nxxx roads with a supplemental 'downgrading' letter that once were N roads but got a diverted ring roads as N72a.
residential	Streets in residential areas or with a majority of houses or other buildings. Roads without ongoing traffic, no connecting roads.
unclassified	Small paved ways, no connecting roads, that typically are located in rural areas. Houses/building are exceptional.
track	Unpaved roads with traces of motor traffic or accessible to motor traffic
path	All paths which are not passable by agriculture or similar vehicles|| Including streets 'designed' for vehicles but where access is restricted to pedestrians
footway	Ways 'designed' for pedestrians where vehicles have no access.

Reference numbers

The usual tag you should use is "ref", so you can get

ref=N16
ref=A12
ref=B101
ref=R11a
ref=E40
ref=T701

Please use a capital letter at the beginning. An extra letter after the number should be lowercase. No spaces should be used.

European E-numbers

Roads with European E-numbers for motorways also have national reference numbers. In that case use this convention:

ref=E19
int_ref=E 19 (with a space between the E and the number!)
nat_ref=A1

Use the E-number for the "ref" tag, since that's what people use in Belgium, and that way the E number will be shown on the map instead of the A number.

There are some places where the E-number is used on a road which isn't a motorway (notably N49-E34 Zelzate-Knokke). I think they usually use the N number there, so "ref" should have the N-number. can someone confirm this who lives there?

• The formal situation is this: Antwerpen - Zelzate = E34 (ref=E34; int_ref=E34; nat_ref=A11). Just after the tunnel and junction with R4 west of Zelzate, it switches to nat_ref=N49, but still is int_ref=E34. Road signage continues to reference E34-N49 there, but the moniker 'N49' is so engrained in people's thoughts, that they always mention 'expressweg' or 'N49', not E34. But they also do that for the part Zelzate - Antwerpen, that's officially not N49 anymore, but A11, so YMMV. --Ldp 11:45, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
• Current tagging for Motorways in Belgium is totally wrong. A road/motorway reference number should be unique. Hence, ref should contain "Ann", not "E nn" which is a european itinerary, not a road number. For example, on this part of motorway near Liege, way 37901492, one can see while driving: E25-E40-E42 but a unique A3 which is actually the reference of the road.--Cordialement, gerdami 21:03, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Fietszone - Zone cyclable

Since 13 February 2012, 'Fietszone' ou 'Zone cyclable' (named Fietsstraat and Rue cyclable from 2012 to 2023) is a new term in local law. It indicates roads with signs F111, and implies for those sections that:

• Cyclists may use the entire width of the road designated for their driving direction
• Speed limit 30 km/h is implied (unless the speed limit was already lower, in which case the lowest speed applies)
• Motorised vehicles are prohibited from overtaking cyclists.

Current tagging policy is to NOT alter the highway category (leave it 'as is', based on its relevance within the routable network), but to add cyclestreet=yes to indicate its legal status.