The arterial highway locating reference system is the skeleton structure of arterial highway database and its geographic information system. And it is also a bridge to communicate the accurate mapping relationship between the field structure of the arterial highway space infrastructure and the computer model. Firstly, this paper sorts out the types and selection methods of the arterial highway locating elements, and studies four mark methods and requirements such as geodetic coordinate and planimetric rectangular coordinate. On this basis, the acquisition method of obtaining the three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the locating elements of the arterial highway is proposed. Finally, three locating reference methods of arterial highway locating elements are studied, and the effectiveness of these methods are verified by application examples. This study is conducive to strengthening the management of arterial highway positioning data, and can provide technical support for the exchange and sharing of highway information resources between the arterial highway locating reference system and relevant geographic information systems.