Pavement Link feature type
Background
The Pavement Link feature type can be found in the OS NGD Transport Theme, in the Transport Network Collection.
This feature type provides a geometry to depict pavement presence which is derived from the Road Link feature type geometry and as a result will be coincident with the Road Link features.
A Pavement Link feature is provided when a pavement is present and an individual feature will be created to represent each side of the road. As a result, when a pavement is present on both sides of a road, two Pavement Link features will be provided with the same geometry, whilst the attribution on the feature will specify which side of the road the given feature is associated with.
The Pavement Link feature represents the start and end points of the section of pavement. If comparing this geometry to the Road Link feature then you would expect to find ‘gaps’ in the Pavement Link features where pavements are not fully connected or do not exist.
All Pavement Link features have a linked identifier to the Road Link feature they are associated with (the roadlinkid attribute).
Technical detail
The Pavement Link feature type aims to give a granular depiction of where a pavement exists along a road link.
To create the Pavement Link feature type we have used an algorithm which uses the pavement polygons which have been captured as part of Ordnance Survey’s topographic data capture and the road link data.
A buffer based on the average width of the Road Link is used to identify if a pavement exists along a Road Link. Generally, a pavement is associated with a road if it is immediately beside the road edge or at a short distance, without a physical barrier. Where the pavement is further away from the road edge or a physical barrier exists, the feature will be captured as a Path, as it will not meet the definition of a pavement.
When allocating a pavement as left- or right-hand side we use the direction of ‘digitisation’ of the associated Road Link feature, (as determined by the startnode and endnode attribution of the road link), with a separate Pavement Link feature being provided for each side of the road, which in some instances can result in overlapping geometries.
Examples of uses this data does support
Understanding where (extent and side of the road) a pavement exists along any given road link. This provides additional information above and beyond that on the road link for identifying start and end points of a pavement. This is particularly useful when undertaking street works to identify whether a pavement might be impacted in any way by the planned street works.
Identifying more accurately where pinch points exist along a stretch of pavement, using the more detailed pavement link geometry to identify their location.
Examples of uses this data doesn't support
Pavement Link features are a discontinuous set of geometries and therefore not a routable network. Pavement Link features provide a more accurate representation of start and end points of pavements, which are not contiguous or topologically structured meaning the data is not intended for routing use cases.
A pavement centre line. If you would like a more accurate visual depiction of pavements the data in the Road Track or Path feature type provides a better solution.
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