Sum line segments in overlapping polygons with Spatial Join

Question

I am using the spatial join tool with counties (polygon) as the target features and gas pipelines (lines) as the join features. I want to see how much pipe is in each county. The problem arises when one pipeline segment overlaps into two polygons. It is then adding the length of the pipeline segment to both counties. I have tried other match options even have their center in but that means the pipeline would have to cross the center of the county. Without splitting the pipes at county lines is there a more reliable way to do this where it would only put the length into one county, possibly the one it overlaps most?

Answer 1

You could create Centroids for the Pipelines with "Feature to Point" and then perform the "Spatial Join" using County and Centroid layers.