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Road Stat API

Hi, I'm Chris and I'd like to introduce Road Stat.

It's a small research project that I've wanted to do for a while.

Main aim An API for exposing datasets matched to Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRNs).

Project focus Aggregate data at a USRN level and simplify how developers access it.

I believe that Unique Street Reference Numbers are an extremely valuable source of information and this is an experiment in aggregating this data to make it more accessible to analysts and developers.

Trial access is currently being provided and user research conducted to understand how this data can be used best.

Project Sponsor:​

This project is sponsored by Neil Brammall and Utility Information Services.

Why USRNs matter:​

Every street in England has a Unique Street Reference Number (USRN).

USRNs are maintained by GeoPlace as part of the National Street Gazetteer (NSG), built on the BS7666 standard. They underpin Street Manager, integrate into the Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (NGD), and are woven into the fabric of how location data works across the public sector for highways.

Because USRNs are the common key across so many public sector datasets, they're a natural anchor point for joining and enriching data, whether that's street works activity, soil conditions, transport access, or property information.

The case for more USRN data products:​

Many valuable public datasets exist in isolation.

Consuming them at scale, and matching them to a consistent street-level reference, can be difficult.

Road Stat is an attempt to close that gap by matching datasets to USRNs and exposing them through a simple API. The aim is data products that are:

  • Easily consumed
  • Accessible
  • Matched to a common street reference

Datasets:​

The API currently exposes the following datasets matched to USRNs:

  • Street Manager permit data — aggregated street works activity from the Department for Transport, covering permits, promoters, traffic management, and road closures across England.
  • Section 58 restrictions — active, historical, and pending street works restrictions under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, sourced from Street Manager.
  • National Soil Dataset — soil attribution data from Cranfield University's LandIS Portal (Open Data), including geology, soilscape, drainage classification, and drainage destination for each USRN.
  • NaPTAN — National Public Transport Access Nodes published by the Department for Transport. Stops are matched to each USRN within a 10m buffer, exposing ATCO and NaPTAN codes alongside a stop count.
  • Bus Open Data Service (BODS) — active bus services and stops matched to each USRN, including route short names, agency names and NOC codes, ATCO and NaPTAN codes, and active route count. Sourced from the Department for Transport's Bus Open Data Service.
  • UPRN counts — number of Unique Property Reference Numbers linked to each USRN, sourced from OS Linked Identifiers.
  • Postcodes — postcode(s) covering each USRN, sourced from Ordnance Survey, Royal Mail, GeoPlace, and the Office for National Statistics.
  • Retail centre boundaries — retail centre(s) each USRN falls within, where applicable.
  • BDUK broadband coverage — gigabit and BDUK subsidy coverage stats matched to each USRN, alongside a summary of telecoms street works activity.
  • Gas pipe infrastructure — Cadent and Northern Gas Networks gas pipe assets matched to each USRN, grouped by match confidence.

See the Endpoints page for full details. For planned future datasets, see the Roadmap page.

Get involved:​

If you're interested in using Road Stat, participating in user research, or have ideas for how this data could be used, get in touch at: chriscarlon@icloud.com.