Driveway design requirements

A driveway is a short pavement-like road connecting the entrance of a private home, building or garage to the street.

It facilitates the parking of an automobile near the entrance of a property and provides access to parking garages and carports. Driveways are also convenient for parking cars in areas where public roadside parking is either inconvenient or not allowed. Driveways can be made from a variety of materials, including asphalt, concrete, cobblestone and decorative brick. The standard design requirements for a driveway include layout specifications such as turn around radius and driveway width and length.

The width for a single car driveway is 10 feet wide. If the width is smaller it would be considered insufficient for driving or parking a car.

The recommended width is 12 feet since this provides more space and makes it convenient for easily driving or parking a car without going out of bounds onto the lawn of the property.

Driveways that are surrounded by walls taller than 8 feet should be designed at least 14 feet wide. This accommodates the opening of car doors and exiting of the car without hitting the walls since this can cause damage to the car. These widths are applicable for driveways facilitating both large and small cars as well as SUVs and pickup trucks.

The width for a double wide driveway is ideally 20 feet to 24 feet wide. This width can accommodate two cars parked side by side and can also be used as a passing lane on the driveway. If there are walls surrounding the driveway then the width should be 24 feet so the doors of the cars can easily open without hitting the walls.

A driveway should be at least 18 feet to 20 feet long as such driveways that are designed for more than one vehicle should comfortably accommodate the length of each vehicle.

The length must provide enough space to walk between each vehicle parked on the driveway and allow room for foot traffic when parked in front of the garage door.

Allow at least 6 feet to 12 feet for the driveway entrance to make room for sidewalk foot traffic. Sidewalks and pavements are usually owned by the state and local authorities and cannot be considered as a part of your private driveway. When designing the driveway, measurements for the length should be taken from the property line near the side walk to the garage and not from the street to the garage.

The design should facilitate the turning radius of the car and the inside dimension should be between 17 feet to 34 feet. Seventeen feet is the standard turning radius of most cars and this includes the turn around area. The turn around should be easily made right on the driveway without having to back the car up onto a busy street or roadway. A 20 foot measurement away from the garage door should be factored into the design layout so that the car could drive out of the garage into the driveway and back into a turn if necessary.