Right‐of‐Way Plats Developed on Computer‐Aided Design Drafting System

Abstract

There have been significant changes in the way right‐of‐way plats are prepared by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) in the last 60 years and particularly over the past decade with the advent of computer‐aided design drafting (CADD). The right‐of‐way (R/W) plat is Wisconsin DOT's permanent record of lands owned for highway purposes. As such, it must clearly document land acquisition limits and provide a historic record of their relationship with established government land monuments. The age of electronics came upon us at the same time property owners and our negotiators were asking for more information presented in a highly graphic, easily understood form for the lay person. More frequent changes in acquisition limits were occurring during negotiations. Complex plats were subject to regular revision. The computer‐aided design drafting system (CADDS) allows us to meet the demand for greater detail and for significantly increased data on our plats. It allows us to produce highly graphic plats that meet the needs of their many users, and yet, are easily amendable when the need arises.