Automatically Create a Best Fit Line

[rgowen]

I have a polyline with endpoints that were shot every 20 or so feet by our surveyor out in the field (for an access road). I need to take these endpoints and create a best fit line that is no more than 3 feet off from the original line that was shot. My goal is to get segments of line that are more than 20 feet apart, but less than 3 feet from the original points that were shot. The drawing is all 2D, I don't need elevation. 

I understand I can use the Create Best Fit Line command, which works, but is tedious. Is there a way I can create a best fit line with the parameters of not being more than 3 feet off the original line? If not, is there an easier way I can go about this?

Thanks in advance!

[BrianHailey]

Try the "Create Best Fit Alignment" command instead. This can create an alignment with lines, curves, and, optionally, spirals. I had some weird results with your line originally but when I reversed the polyline, it works beautifully.

It does create curves but it should get you close to what you need. doing a quick glance at the offset labels, I didn't see any that were more than 3' off.

[MMcCall402 · Accepted solution]

If it were me, I would just offset the line 3' in both directions and then draw a new centerline between the two.   There are some areas along the alignment that fit better with curves.  I tried it myself and it was pretty easy to stay within 3 feet.

[rgowen]

Thank you for taking the time to answer. This seems like it could be a potential solution, however, the issue I'm running into is that it creates as many segments as there are in the line. I'm trying to minimize the number of segments as much as possible as I will need to write a legal description of the access road. Is there a way to add this into the parameters of the best fit alignment?

[rgowen]

I think this will work very well for me. Such a simple answer and I hadn't thought of this approach. Thank you!!