Create centerlines from polygons in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

Centerlines are created from polygons to symbolize polygons at finer scales by defining the center locations of features. For example, to create centerlines of a pavement system for routing purposes, to trace an archaeological water system across a canal network, and to define road centerlines from cadastral data within a certain geographic extent.

The image below shows the pavement network of a neighborhood in Naperville, Illinois. In the following example, centerlines for the pavement network are created.

Procedure

In ArcGIS Pro, centerlines are created using the Polygon To Centerline tool. Follow the steps below to create centerlines from polygons:

Note:
This tool is available with the Esri Production Mapping Standard or Advanced licence. 

In ArcMap 10.5 onwards, the equivalent tool is the Production Centerline tool, which is available with the Esri Production Mapping Standard or Advanced license. For an alternative that does not require Esri Production Mapping license and for versions prior to ArcMap 10.5, refer to How To: Create centerlines from polygon features.

1. In ArcGIS Pro, open the desired project.
2. In the Geoprocessing pane, search for Polygon To Centerline. Click the tool.
3. In the Polygon To Centerline pane, specify Input Features as the polygon in which centerlines are created. In this example, the input feature is Pavement Schedules.
4. Click Run.

Note:
If a line feature class (rivers, roads) is available instead of a polygon feature class, use the Graphic Buffer tool to show the appearance of the line feature class as centerlines and the buffer extent as the centerlines casing.