Adding OpenStreetMap data to the Guru Maps using the Overpass-turbo

Guru Maps supports GeoJSON data format for displaying layers with additional map features that are shown on top of the base map. Overpass-turbo allows you to search for and export specific map features tagged in OpenStreetMap to various formats, including the GeoJSON.

For instance, you need to add the layer with vehicle inspection stations to the Guru Maps. If you know the key+value for the point of interest (e.g. amenity = vehicle_inspection), you can run queries directly from Overpass Turbo. Otherwise take a look to the OpenStreetMap wiki which contains a full list of all map features tagged in OpenStreetMap or get the required tag directly from the map using the “Query features” tool.

Open the openstreetmap.org, browse the map, click the right button of the mouse on the selected object on the map, then choose “Query features” from the menu.

The list of the nearby objects will be on the left. Hover over the results to reveal the object on the map.

Tap on the object and look for the appropriate tag:

In our case it is amenity=vehicle_inspection. Tap the vehicle_inspection to make sure it is the right one.

The OpenStreetMap wiki page for every tag contains the link to overpass-turbo. You can find it on the right side of the page under the “Tools for this tag” section. Tap the link to open the overpass-turbo with the pre-loaded simple query.

/*
This query looks for nodes, ways and relations 
with the given key/value combination.
Choose your region and hit the Run button above!
*/
[out:json][timeout:25];
// gather results
(
 // query part for: “amenity=vehicle_inspection”
 node[“amenity”=”vehicle_inspection”]({{bbox}});
 way[“amenity”=”vehicle_inspection”]({{bbox}});
 relation[“amenity”=”vehicle_inspection”]({{bbox}});
);
// print results
out body;
>;
out skel qt;

This query searches for all map features (nodes, lines and relations) that have the key “amenity” that equal the value “vehicle_inspection.” You can move and zoom the map to set a bounding box for the query. Then select the “Run” button to see the results of your query.

Tap the “Export” button and choose “Download as GeoJSON”.

Generated GeoJSON file can be imported into the Guru Maps. Once the data is imported, you will be able to view the new layer in the list of map sources. It will be shown by the file name, so it will be better to give it the meaningful name (e.g. vehicle_inspection.geojson).

Nodes with amenity=vehicle_inspection will be displayed as blue pins, polygons will be filled in blue.

To hide these objects from the map, just uncheck this vehicles_inpection layer in the Map Sources > Overlays list.

In this way, you can quickly add data to Guru Maps that is not in the vector map. For GeoJSON data it is also possible to set the zoom level when it appears and many more parameters supported by MapCSS. You can read about this in the Guru Maps user manual: map source documentation & MapCSS syntax.

If something doesn’t work, feel free to ask for advice at https://t.me/gurumaps.