How to label and name roads (Belgium)

This page covers road names for the country listed in the page title. For other countries see this page.

Labels and naming of roads in Belgium

The type and name of the Belgium roads differs from that in the United States. The How to label and name roads does not meet the situation in Belgium. This article describes how roads should be edited in Belgium.

Labels, give the roads the correct road type

While editing the map you will find that some roads are not properly labeled. This means that the road type is wrong, or that a road has several road types.

Labeling the roads correctly is very important for the following reasons: 1. When viewing the map, only the 'larger' roads should be displayed on the high zoom levels. Without proper labels seeing the zoomed image is confusing. 2. When planning a route bigger roads get a higher priority over minor roads. For example: 10 kilometers on the E19 is better than 10 kilometers on the Antwerpse steenweg.

When editing and labeling the roads in your area Keep in mind the two points above. Below you will find the road type guidlines.

Road type	Definition	Cartouche
Freeways	All highways (A+E-roads). Access to these roads is via on-ramps (Ramps). Exception A12, this is partly a major highway!
Major Highways	All N-roads N1 to N99 are Major Highways.
Minor Highways	All N-roads N100 to N999 are Minor Highways. All R-roads (which are not a freeway or N1-99 road) Same for B-roads.
Ramps	Exits of freeways and highways.
Primary Streets	Other important roads within and outside the cities. P-roads
Streets	All other streets.
Pedestrian boardwalk	Bicycle lanes Footpaths Bus lanes (CAUTION: Direction must be set to: 'No entrance' and 'Locked' must be checked)

Naming, give the correct name

Road type	How to name	Editor
Freeways	Highways just get their short A or E name. For example: E17 E19 - A1
Major & Minor Highways	How to name N-roads: N20 - Steenweg How to name R-roads: R20 - Boulevard du Midi
Exits	The name should be based on what is shown on the signs at the highways. If exit has a number (colon required for text-to-speech pause): Afrit 12 Brussel Sortie 12 Brussel Ausfahrt 12 Brussel If exit has no number: Afrit Merksem Sortie Merksem Ausfahrt Merksem
Entrance Ramps	The name should be based on what is shown on the signs at the entrance. Use ramps to the following format: "[street name] [ri|vers] [city Name]". For example E19 ri Antwerpen E19 di Antwerpen The use of "ramp to" or the like, it is not necessary, and should be avoided, since we have to do with the small screens. Let the other side of the word "ri/vers" (direction) remains, which would otherwise lead to confusion. Try on as much information on the signs is to mention. The goals of the panels are filled from top to bottom.
Interchanges	Roads between motorways (interchanges) are labeled the same way than freeways. The nomenclature corresponds to that for driveways. Use the place for the exit at the AA / RWS are signs. "A58 ri Etten-Leur / Roosendaal / Vlissingen" "A17 / A59 ri Roosendaal / Bergen op Zoom" An example of a node is labeled node Beekbergen (A50/A1): [1] (this node is currently used to workaround bugs routing testing. When there is a good workaround is found, the wiki will be adjusted)
Primary Streets	P4 - Rue de Luxembourg
Streets
Pedestrian boardwalk

Extra info

- R-roads that are also an A, E, or N-road, get the roadtype according to that type. So 'R0' is also E19. It gets roadtype 'freeway. The name will only be 'R0'. And 'R12' is also N1. It gets roadtype 'mayor'. The name will only be 'R12 - Schuttersvest'.

- If a N-road is also an E-road, roadtype is according to the N-road number. The name will be 'N4 - E46 - Route de la Barrière'

- Names on the signs could be obtained by using Google Maps or Google Street View, which is now available for many roads in Belgium.

Examples

Ramp: (A58 direction Breda / Roosendaal)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.557102,4.848661&spn=0,359.98071&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.557129,4.848534&panoid=oi8xUaJMWA51JEexAR84yA&cbp=12,295.21,,0,-0.72

Exit: (Exit 13 Culemborg)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.926107,5.167662&spn=0.001174,0.002411&z=19

Node: (A16 ri Rose Challenge / Antwerp)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.647371,4.702535&spn=0,359.98071&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.647247,4.701969&panoid=72i3LmhluZ4IzEZEO8xhQQ&cbp=12,294.06,,0,4.5

- Streetnames gets their info according the official local language. See the cityname list to find it easily.

- For ramps you have to use the abbreviation 'di' for French talking cities, or 'ri' for Dutch and German speaking cities, to indicate the word 'direction'.

- For exits you have to use 'Sortie' in French talking cities, 'Afrit' in Dutch talking cities and 'Ausfahrt' for German talking cities. Also use the cityname list to find the local language.

- For the 19 cities that belong to 'Brussels' Capital Area, we ONLY use the French streetnames. The cityname itself gets a combined French and Dutch name (see cityname list). This is because a combination of French and Belgium streetnames will give very long names. This will clutter the map and information. Maybe in the future we get the possibilty to add an alternative streetname. But for routing it doesn't matter. As you know Waze uses an external database for it in Belgium. Why we are using the French name? That's simple, most people in these 19 cities are French speaking and first names that are showed on streetname signs is also French.

Petrol Stations, Rest Areas, Drive-ins

Petrol stations are put as a landmark in cartouche. The name of the landmark is short 'BP, Shell, etc. Type landmark' Gas Station '. More details can be lost in the description, try always the full name of the petrol station number.

The roads around and in these situations, parking lot roads. The exit ramp and forward (from a highway) are also parking lot! The naming and exit as "Exit BP 'and' A2 direction Utrecht '(just like normal and exits).

So:

'Landmark'

• Name: Short name (franchise) station 'BP'
• Details: Full name, presence, gas / air / etc 'BP The west air / gas, air'
• Type: Gas Station

'Ramps'

• Name: "Exit BP 'or' A2 direction Utrecht '
• Type: Parking lot road

'Roads in petrol station'

• Name: no name gas station franchise "The sky west '
• Type: Parking lot road

Citynames

Freeways and ramps

Highways have no place name. There are several reasons:

• File reports are not segmented, and get a nice "Close" or "Between A and B" message. Do not forget to remove unnecessary junctions.

What to do if the first entry on the board is not a place name?

• A2 exit 6 (ring Utrecht / Maarssen) is "Exit 6 Maarssen"
• A27 exit 31 (Ring Utrecht) is "Exit 31 Ring Utrecht '
• A1 exit 6 (Industrial Gooimeer) becomes' Exit 6 Gooimeer "

Entrances and exits get the city name in which they lie, according to the city borders. Here, the ViaMichelin or OpenStreetMap maps can be used. Google Maps is not suitable for finding the correct borders.

Other road types

For other road types, the place the name of the municipality or taken place where the road is located. If a road a municipal or city limit, the road on the border through a junction split in two, so both good stretches of the city can get.

Belgium Mainpage