Tyler, Texas · Smith County

Driveway Approaches & Extensions Tyler TX - Widening and Curb Cuts

Adding a parking spot beside the garage, a side pad for the boat, or a wider mouth at the street is a small job with more rules than people expect. In Tyler most of them live in the Unified Development Code and the City's standard driveway detail, and we build to both.

Request a Quote Call (903) 587-4111

Driveway widened with a new light gray concrete strip beside the older slab in front of a red brick ranch house under tall pines

Request a site visit and written quote

Rather talk it through? Call anytime: (903) 587-4111

The Approach at the Street

The approach is the stretch between the street and your property line, where the driveway crosses the public sidewalk and meets the curb. The City's Development FAQ says replacing an approach takes a permit and an approved plan, and that an approach must be at least four feet wide. The residential driveway permit is $50. Sec. 10-211 limits the slope across the right-of-way to 10 percent and requires that the driveway let pedestrians cross the sidewalk under the Texas Accessibility Standards and the ADA. The City's standard detail calls for a public walk 6 inches thick where it crosses the drive, #3 deformed bars at 18 inches on center each way on a home driveway, and 1-by-6 expansion material wherever new concrete meets old. Its paving notes say stamped finishes aren't allowed on an approach or any sidewalk section.

New concrete driveway approach with flared curb returns at the gutter, crossing the public sidewalk to a driveway and a brick home

How Wide Can It Be?

Table 10-211e sets the limits for a residential driveway on a residential street:

Width of 10 to 25 feet, with a curb radius of 5 to 10 feet.
40 feet between two driveways on the same property, and 2 feet from the neighboring property.

Sec. 10-217 adds that one opening per street is the rule, with a second allowed on a corner lot, and that a corner lot with more than a two-car garage may run its driveway as wide as the garage, up to 35 feet. A driveway also has to meet the street at an angle of at least 70 degrees.

Driveway approach at the street with orange paint marks on the curb and staked string lines showing a wider planned approach

Extensions and Side Pads

Widening behind the property line usually means saw-cutting the edge, drilling dowels into the existing slab and pouring the new strip to match its height and slope. One limit people miss: Sec. 10-380 caps pavement in the front yard of a single-family or duplex lot at 55 percent of the area between the property line and the front of the house. A two-car-wide extension across a small front yard can hit that ceiling, so we measure it on the site visit. Sec. 10-380 also says vehicles in every zone must be parked on an improved surface, which is the usual reason someone wants that side pad. For a trailer or RV pad off to the side, see concrete pads.

Steel dowels drilled into the edge of an existing driveway beside wood forms and a gravel base for a new side pad, with red clay around it

Who Does the Street Work

Sec. 10-241 requires a City license, a bond and a permit before anyone digs for a driveway, sidewalk or curb in a public place, and the City gives lines and grades. If the whole driveway is worn out, not just the mouth, our driveway replacement page covers a full tear-out.

Section of street curb removed and formed for a new driveway approach, with orange barricades and cones in the gutter and a brick house across the street

Get an Approach or Extension Quote

Send the address, a photo from the street and a note on what you want to park. Call (903) 587-4111 anytime or use the quote form.

Back to Tyler Superior Concrete for every concrete service we offer in Tyler.

Fishing boat on a trailer parked on a concrete side pad beside the garage of a red brick house, with pines behind

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Would you rather talk it through? Call (903) 587-4111 anytime.