My experience on drafting mainland D routes:First, I always try to find
info about the systems on wikisara but there is not an overview for most of the departements. I usually edit the url to find the article, see
readme.
I think that the available wikisara articles are mostly correct but I found rare cases (2 or 3) where the route extends according to OSM, GM and GSV and there is not good reason why it should end where it's indicated on wikisara.
Due to the generally good - but not perfect - signposting in France, OSM and GM do usually have the routes quite well. However,
don't rely on one source only!I ALWAYS check the route start + end point on OSM and GM. If there are doubts, I check it on GSV. The same for intersecting routes. I always check both. If one is different, I check GSV and it's about fifty-fifty when OSM or GM is correct.
Many departements have
very short routes from a route to the next village only. Especially these short routes are often extended by mistake on GM or OSM.
If there are doubts - or when I'm in a departement with this attitude, I usually check the town signs of villages. There is usually a D road sign on top. If not, it's likely no D road.
The end point is quite often in the village as you can see when you compare all town signs. I'd trust GM more than OSM on this. Again, OSM often extends it! On GSV, you often see C road signs then.
C road numbering on OSM was virtually always wrong in IDF. It's better in GES but I always check the number on GSV before I call a wp Cxx.
When the D route ends in the village, it seems that it's quite often at the church according to GM and OSM. That's why I often have
RueEgl for
Rue de l'Eglise.
Most departements
begin with route D1 and they have no or rare gaps. The routes with suffix are often without gaps DxA to ... but DxD is sometimes skipped. And some are only a few meters long, ramps of interchanges etc. I don't draft them even when they are signed. The criteria is: Is it one interchange or more than one interchange?
Some departements name more then one route with the suffix. The routes are usually numbered again, e.g. D123E1, D123E2. I first thought that I should ignore these but we should threat them equate to the other routes.
RueEgl as prefered wp label because church is easiest to be identify, and it's also often the end point at OSM.
Labels of short (intersecting) route are often
only visible on GM with zoom level 18 or even 19.
I'm not sure whether Lucian (or our American friends) is aware of it but the
trunk routes are former N routes. They are usually D9xx, D8xx, D6xx, D4xx now. xx is often (part of) the former N route number. Depending on the phase (year) of downgrading and the departement-specific dedication rule. Of course, these routes are not consistently but have gaps in-between. Sometimes the old N route has the same D numbering over departement borders now.
In detail, it's different from departement to departement.
To be defined:1. How to deal with
M routes (metropole routes) which have recently been introduced?
e.g. Nancy.
They are former D routes but not yet visible on OSM, GM nor GSV. I've still drafted them as D routes but we need a way before activation. I just found the first(!) route in OSM Clermont-FD now.
Should they be part of the D route system? Own system per city? Own system per region?
Si has named
two eursf route with m suffx: "fraara.d030169m.wpt". But why not fraara.m030169? And how to fill the csv files since the departement codes are in banner field?
Maybe list file entry like this: "
FRA-ARA D301(M)-69 A7 A46"
2. It happens that
routes with four route numbers intersect. Do we always use the lowest two wp numbers or do we use the most important route, like the former N routes?
Do we use all intersecting/concurrent routes in wp labels or just the one with lowest number or just with most important number? Concurrencies are usually
not signed.
3. Do we use
upper-case suffixes, e.g. D1A or D1a? Based on what I've seen on GSV so far, I think that upper-case letters are more common. Sometimes lowercase in IDF or mixed (one sign A, next a of the same route), GES virtually just uppercase so far. In total (IDF,NOR,BFC,ARA,GES), maybe 80..90% uppercase.
It doesn't matter for the software or users but it's displayed in HB. I'm gone with uppercase.
4.
One system per region (13 systems in total) as I've done for FRA-IDF or
one system per departement (almost 100 systems) as I did for FRA-GES?
I'm in favor of system per departement and would split fraidfd if there is no objection.
Pros:
- Easier to draft and bringing to preview
- Easier to peer-review and active (e.g. FRA-GES has the Alsace issue, two departements should be merged in 2021, road numbering unknown, not likely be be activated before 2022/23)
- Easier to clinch by travelers, better to set travel goals and achieve them
Cons:
- High number of TM systems (currently about 330 w/o France, 430 with France one day)
Just a reminder, yakra has converted available shaping files (found by Lucian) to be used for drafting routes (unfortunately just two of my departements). The files are still available but the source should be checked whether there is an update before start drafting the system:
I made a list of departement abbreviations to be used for border labels. Any objections?
We found some shp files and @yakra converted them using GISplunge.
I've added source and wpt file (output directory):
We could comment it when we find more sources. We can also copy the list(s) to a forum post and add colors.
To avoid facing the same issue we have right now with tons of preview systems for a very long time, I suggest starting with reviewing one of my departement systems before starting to draft a new system. This would also help that we draft the D routes as similar as possible all over the country!@Si, let me know if (or when) your (pretty small) French oversea preview systems are ready for preview so that I can peer-review them after roudj and gbnb.
