Yesterday I was engaged in a great email discussion about the structure and data content of the Arkansas Road Centerline File.  The discussion centered on the way in which most counties represent the primary street name for roads that are highways.  There are discrepancies across the state for how the name  is presented.  Years ago when the program was started the AGIO made the recommendation Highway names should be stored as “US 67” for the primary street name and “Hwy” as the primary street type.

Our constituent pointed out they constantly run into challenges where their users, their constituents use the syntax “Highway 67.” It was a good swap of ideas that may lead AGIO to revising guidelines about that content.   In the course of communication our constituent said something to the effect of, “Hey sorry for bringing this up,” which brings me to point of this post.

State Geographic Information Officer

The GIS Board and the Geographic Information Office

were created in part to discover and resolve these sorts of issues.  Our state can’t have a successfully coordinated system (GeoStor) if we don’t have a systematic approach to structuring, organizing and storing your data.  So to you my friends, our constituents, I’d like to say never apologize for bringing AGIO issues.  When you find them [ if you stay in this line of work long enough, trust me you will find them], then let AGIO know.

We like it when we hear back from you.  It’s your system and we count on you to help us make it better. We are here to serve you.