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In 2001 Bingham County contracted with J-U-B
Engineering Inc., to develop a Master Transportation Plan (MTP). The MTP
was designed to have multi-purposes. One major component of the
transportation plan was the conversion of existing digital County maps into
a geographic information system (GIS) format.
The county provided a number of survey coordinates
throughout the County as a guide to position existing digital mapping data.
J-U-B’s GIS group, Gateway Mapping, took those existing digital maps and
adjusted them to fit the newly surveyed coordinates. Gateway Mapping
developed the base map the county is using today to improve its mapping and
data base history of roads, signs, approaches and other mapped layers.
GIS is computer technology that combines maps and data
to provide a powerful infrastructure management tool. GIS records
inventory, identifies risk or liability problems, provides operations and
maintenance direction, and helps establish budgets.
In a more generic sense, GIS is a tool that allows
users to create interactive queries (user created searches), analyze the
spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these
operations.
Currently, the following Bingham County departments
utilize the GIS mapping that has been developed: Elections, Appraisers,
Assessor’s, Planning and Zoning, and the Sheriff’s E911 Mapping system.
The Master Transportation Plan provided a GIS beginning
for the County. This GIS development will continue to build and benefit the
County for years to come.
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