Calculating total poyline length without double counting lengths in areas with more than one line segment

MelC — Mon, 11 May 2026 01:01:43 GMT

I am working on a project in ArcGIS Pro where I am trying to calculate total route length (polylines), but in a lot of areas I have more than one line segment. For example, if an area is 1 mile long but there are three line segments following that whole mile, I need to calculate only 1 mile, not 3 miles. The polylines are almost never overlapping so dissolving won't work. The area is quite large, sometimes the lines are 10 meters apart, sometimes only 3 meters, some run perpendicular to each other, while others run parallel. I have tried a couple of different approaches, none of which I am satisfied with. I was looking for some guidance from the community! Thank you in advance.

Re: Calculating total poyline length without double counting lengths in areas with more than one line segment

MohammedSubair — Mon, 11 May 2026 05:57:34 GMT

If my understanding of your situation is correct, then in ArcGIS Pro a better approach would be to create a small buffer around the routes based on the average spacing between lines, dissolve the buffers into single polygons, then convert those dissolved polygons back into centerlines and calculate the length from the resulting centerlines to avoid counting parallel segments multiple times.

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Calculating total poyline length without double counting lengths in areas with more than one line segment

Re: Calculating total poyline length without double counting lengths in areas with more than one line segment