Abstract: A method and apparatus for planning vehicle trajectories or routing in which a first optimized route between a starting point and a destination is established with regard to a first, relatively coarse node grid, using known techniques. In order to further refine route selection, a second relatively finer node grid is then established within a predeterminable area or volume that is adjacent yo the first optimized route, along its length. The latter finer node grid is then used to establish a second enhanced polygonal path from among the possible polygonal paths between the starting and destination points according to the finer node grid, once again using a known optimization technique.