A computer-implemented method, a system, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for designing electrical circuits are provided. In the method input data is received and processed to generate a representation of the electrical circuit. A first process is repeatedly performed to identify a plurality of candidate routes for connecting a first and second circuit element based on the representation. A candidate route is selected from the plurality of candidate routes based on a look ahead search. The first process includes selecting a first point in the representation, executing a second process to identify a set of candidate points, and selecting a second point from the set of candidate points. The second process comprises evaluating at least one candidate path extending in a linear direction from the first point to identify the set of candidate points based on at least a constraint and a topology of the electrical circuit.