12.4 Creating Roads with Smart Templates

Available with the following Subscriptions: Premium, Enterprise
Available for the following Project Roles: Project Editor, Project Admin

The Smart Templates library contains a number of templates for creating roads, all of which turn a single sketched path into a complete road with a centerline, lane markings, edge lines, and more in some cases sidewalks and bike lanes. Use a road template to lay out a brand-new road, or to sharpen up and re-mark an existing road that isn't clearly defined.

💡Note: The Smart Templates feature is new and still in its Beta phase. It is considered an experimental feature and before using will first need to be enabled. See How to Activate Smart Templates for instructions.
 

How to use the Road Smart Template

The Smart Templates library is updated regularly so names and options may change, but at any time there are usually several Road templates to choose from; they all generally work the same way, as described below.

1. Click the Smart Templates (1) Tool to display the Smart Templates library - a category of Resources.
2. Choose the road template that best fits the task by selecting it from the Sidesheet:
   • Road (2) — sketch a path to create a road. Choose number of lanes and widths.
   • Road Smooth (3) — sketch a path using only straight lines and have the road's corners automatically smooth out; use it to turn a rough or sharp-cornered path into a clean, properly marked road.
   • Road with Bike Lane (4) — sketch a path to create a road with a bike lane. Choose number of lanes and widths.

3. After choosing a template the starting location will need to be set; locate a suitable point on the map. The blue dot attached to the cursor is the template's anchor and it can be placed by clicking on the Maptile. 
4. The starting point becomes the reference origin (1) but can be adjusted if needed using Repos. Template (2), Rotate Template (3), or Move Template (4). When positioning is finalized Click Edit Template (5).
   
   
    
5. To define the road path click Redraw Sketch (6) (or Edit Sketch), the sketch grid will appear, use the sketch tools to sketch the road's centerline path. Switching to 2D view (7) before sketching any lines gives a clear, scaled plan view to sketch with confidence.
   
   
    
6. Use the 3-Point Arc (8) tool to follow curves and the Line tool (9) for straight segments, continuing until the path follows the road's full route.
7. Click Confirm (10), then Next, to generate the road along that path. 
   
   
    
8. After the road path has been sketched and the Zones and Lines appear in 3D, adjust the templates variables for the # of Lanes, lane width, shoulder width and more. Turn on Edit Widths (1) to adjust the lane, curb, sidewalk, and bike lane dimensions. The options may differ per template but typically include the following variables:

• Smoothing (2)
• # of Lanes (3)
• Edit Widths (4)
• Lane Width (5)
• Curb Offset (6)
• Sidewalk Width (7)

9. Inspect the result in 3D along the length of the road, before clicking Next (8).

💡Note: To match an existing road, set the width fields to zero, then increase Lane Width in small increments while watching the 3D preview, followed by Curb Offset and Sidewalk Width.

10. Review and confirm the objects created by the Smart Template. Uncheck any object not needed from the Review objects list:

• Sidewalk (1) — Zone
• Road (2) — Zone
• Centerline (3) — 3D Line
• Lane Lines (4) — 3D Line
• Edge Lines (5) — 3D Line

11. When all modifications to the Smart Template are complete, consider downloading the template for re-use; as once the template has been run and outputs created, the template cannot be accessed again for adjustment or download purposes. By saving a copy, it can be shared or reused in other Scenarios.
12. Click Confirm (6) to complete the process.

13. Each object the template created is listed under Zone or 3D Line in the Scenario Tree and can be selected and edited individually.