HOW TO

Remove overlap of buffers around polylines

Last Published: September 28, 2022

Summary

When creating buffers around polylines and 'No Dissolve' is selected in the Buffer tool, polygons around lines that are close enough will overlap each other. If this is not selected, the polygons are just merged.

This article provides steps to generate buffer polygons that are neither overlapped or merged, as shown in the image below:

Buffer.jpg

Procedure

  1. Use either the Buffer (Analysis) or Pairwise Buffer (Analysis) tools to generate the buffer with the distance required.
  2. From the Geoprocessing pane, search the Remove Overlap tool. Take into account there are two versions available, as shown in the next image:
    • One of them is in the Analysis toolbox and does not require an additional license.
    • The other is included in the Business Analyst toolbox, hence this additional extension is required.
RO.jpg
  1. Use the output generated by the Buffer tool as input and run the Remove Overlap tool.
Note:
This tool is also available in ArcMap but included only in the Business Analyst toolbox, thus it requires this additional extension.

Article ID: 000028415

Software:
  • ArcGIS Pro 3 0
  • ArcMap 10 6
  • ArcGIS Pro 2 8 x
  • ArcMap 10 7
  • ArcGIS Pro 2 x
  • ArcMap 10 8

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