How wide should driveway be?

[jballone]

Hello all,

My wife and I recently purchased a small lot (100X260) in the U.P. (Upper Michigan) with plans on building the 1 1/2 story cabin.  We've marked some trees for removal for the driveway and building site and I had a question.  How wide should the driveway be in order to allow reasonable access for the cement truck/dump truck, etc.

My hope is to keep the driveway's width on the narrow side.  I currently have it flagged at 16 feet at it's most narrow section.  What's everyone's thoughts?  I have also contacted the township for a driveway permit and it may stipulate minimum width.  This permit should be arriving in about a week.

Joe

[glenn kangiser]

That would be about my minimum if making it for me.  A truck with mirrors could be around 10' and would like some room.  Don't forget overhead also.  14 feet high for a big truck.

[jballone]

I forgot about clearance height...Thanks!

[MountainDon]

Depends. 1. local authority rules come first. 12 foot min width is common here, but in some cases I've seen the county want 20 feet, dependent on length; longer the wider. 2. Is it a straight in and out affair? You need more width for turns. 3. Also depends a lot on driver skill of any vehicles that may use the driveway.

[glenn kangiser]

My narrowest spots are about 12 feet of surface area - most wider.  

On another note -- if you are going to have a dump truck dumping rock then you may want to clear 20 feet or so above or be sure to warn the driver of obstacles.  I have a few limbs my buddy misses when he dumps.

[MarkAndDebbie]

The electric company required 15ft to bury my electric line (or a 30 foot clearcut swath for overhead). Nobody's complained yet - flatbed of lumber, cement mixer, dump truck dumping gravel, and BIG well rig. You might check with all these people (especially the power if you need it). The other people who care are EMS / 911. You might want to ask them - here they are the ones that assign the address - so they are the first people you should call.

[williet]

The electric company required 15ft to bury my electric line (or a 30 foot clearcut swath for overhead). Nobody's complained yet - flatbed of lumber, cement mixer, dump truck dumping gravel, and BIG well rig. You might check with all these people (especially the power if you need it). The other people who care are EMS / 911. You might want to ask them - here they are the ones that assign the address - so they are the first people you should call.

Same here, 15 ft for underground power, and 30 ft for overhead.

[JRR]

If you plan to surface the driveway, I would suggest it's the last phase of building.  Clear the drive path, put down some gravel if needed, but wait to put down the concrete only after all the heavy trucks are gone ... after the house is built.  

If possible; use stone pavers or brick, instead of concrete, as the top surface ... helps with the rain run-off.  Makes rerouteing the drive easier.

[jballone]

Thanks for all the input.  That's why this site is so great!

I plan on burying my power and the electric company advised that I was responsive for trenching.  This won't be a problem because my soil is fairly sandy.

I did hear back from the county and my driveway permit is on the way.  At the time, I forgot to ask if there was a minimum width but I suspect the permit will explain this.  The main reason the county uses permits is to determine if a culvert is needed at roadside.  My drive will not need a culvert.

Also, the county will not issue a fire #/991 # until a driveway is in.  Some counties were I live do not issue 911 #'s until there's a structure being built on the property.

As far as driveway surface, I plan on using gravel for the surface.  This is going to our "get away" cabin so keeping costs down is a priority.

Joe

[Daddymem]

I usually do 11 foot minimum.  To give perspective, most parking lot spaces are 9x18 or 10x20.  12 foot is nice if you can get it.

[davidj]

Plumas County in N California has a "fire safe driveway" standard that they enforce on new construction.  After building ours
(with 2" of 3/4" minus road base, as required) we've had drilling rigs and concrete trucks in and they all seemed to make it
without problem.  Other than a requirement for a 20' wide passing section in the middle of the driveway, it seems pretty sensible.  The specs are:

 minimum 10' '"travel surface"
 minimum turning radius 50'
 minimum 14' surface (50'->100' radius)
 minimum 12' surface (100'->200' radius)
 minimum 15' vertical clearance
 20' x 60' "T" turnaround by house

I.e. the tighter the curve, the wider it needs to be.

Other requirements are that didn't impact us:
 max 13% grade
 minimum "vertical curve" length 100'

David.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks for posting that -- around here there are also compaction requirements if I remember right, and welcome to the forum.