Create a cul-de-sac

In the Modify Features pane, the Cul-de-sac tool creates cul-de-sac geometry that is aligned with a selected line feature representing the centerline of a road. You specify the street width, a radius value for the cul-de-sac, and a radius value for the two return curves.

You can select straight- or curved-line features. Selecting a centerline with a 90-degree turn creates an asymmetrical cul-de-sac. The return (or reverse) curves terminate both ends of the main arc at the specified street width.

Note:

When Ground to Grid is turned on, the direction values you enter are rotated and the distance values are scaled for the resulting geometry.

To learn more, see Turn ground to grid corrections on or off.

1. If the current map does not contain a line feature layer, add it.
   1. On the View tab, click Catalog Pane , and expand Databases .
   2. Expand the default database or the database containing your data.

      To create a line feature class, right-click the database, click New, and click Feature Class.

   3. Drag the feature class onto the map.

      A feature template with default settings is automatically generated for the new layer.

2. If you are creating line features that require your input values to be stored with the feature in COGO attribute fields, COGO-enable your line features.

   COGO-enabled line feature classes draw with COGO symbology and include a label expression that labels each line with its COGO dimension, when it exists.

   To learn more, see Enable COGO.

3. If you are working with z-enabled features, on the Edit tab, in the Elevation group, choose how z-values are added to your features.

   For steps to add z-values when creating z-enabled features, see Specify an elevation for 3D features.

4. On the Edit tab, set your snapping preferences and show the Modify Features pane.
   1. In the Snapping group, enable your snapping preferences.

      Tip:

      To temporarily turn snapping off as you draw a feature, press and hold Spacebar.

   2. In the Features group, click Modify .
5. Show the tool and turn on the preview.
   1. In the pane, expand COGO and click Cul-de-sac .
   2. Check Show Preview.

      

6. Select the line feature you want to use as the centerline using the tools in the pane.
   1. Click the Select tool and select the feature containing the m-value you want to edit.
   2. If you select more than one feature, double-click the feature item you want to edit or right-click it and click Only Select This .

      

   Tip:

   If a centerline line does not exist, you can create it using a feature template. When you click Finish or press F2, the tool uses it as the current selection.

7. To create the cul-de-sac on a layer that is different from the selected feature layer, do the following:
   1. Check Use Template.
   2. Click the drop-down arrow and choose a feature template.
8. Choose the end of the selected line feature at which you want to create the cul-de-sac.
   • Start of line—Creates the cul-de-sac at the first vertex.
   • End of line—Creates the cul-de-sac at the last vertex.
9. Specify the width and radial parameters for the cul-de-sac.
   • Street width—The distance at which both ends of the main arc terminate.
   • Radius—The main arc of the cul-de-sac.
   • Return radius—The return curves that terminate both ends of the main arc at the street width.
10. Click Create.