How Do You Get a TxDOT Driveway Permit in Texas?
If your driveway meets a state highway, a US highway or an FM road, you need a TxDOT driveway permit. The application is Form 1058, Permit to Construct Access Driveway Facilities on Highway Right of Way. It goes through the local TxDOT district office. The property owner or a representative they authorize applies.
No work can start on the right of way until you receive the fully executed permit. You also give TxDOT 24 hours of notice before you start. A TxDOT inspector then reviews the driveway construction and decides if it is acceptable or needs changes. It counts as a permitted driveway only once TxDOT finds the work satisfactory.
A county road means the county’s own permit, and a city street means the city’s. Our part comes once the permit is in hand. We install and replace driveway culverts and build the drive to the road owner’s rules.
Who issues a driveway permit in Texas?
The road your driveway meets decides it. TxDOT’s glossary defines the State Highway System as the highways in the state built and maintained by TxDOT. The Farm to Market Road system is one part of it.
County roads and city streets are off-system roads in TxDOT’s terms, and TxDOT does not maintain them. On those roads, the county or the city sets the driveway rules.
Around the Brazos Valley, the local TxDOT office is the Bryan District. It covers Brazos, Burleson, Freestone, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Walker and Washington counties.
What goes on TxDOT Form 1058?
Form 1058 must describe the proposed work. It also gives the applicant’s name, mailing address, telephone number and the location of the proposed driveway.
The permit is for access only. It covers securing or changing access to your property, never parking or servicing vehicles on the right of way. The same process covers revising an existing driveway.
What design rules does TxDOT check?
TxDOT’s access manual sets these rules for driveways on the state right of way:
- Angle: the drive meets the highway at 75 to 90 degrees.
- Width: a private residential driveway is no wider than 24 feet, not counting the radii.
- Radius: the curve joining the highway pavement is at least 15 feet.
- Farm and ranch drives: the typical design has 25-foot return radii and a 20-foot throat width.
- Gates: the space from the pavement edge to a gate holds the longest vehicle you expect. At minimum, that is a pickup truck with a trailer.
- Frontage: the whole entrance, radii included, stays within your property frontage.
- Fixed objects: none are allowed in the highway right of way.
- Intersections: no driveway goes in the flared or widened right of way at an intersection.
- Grade: the drive matches the grade of the pavement edge, or the shoulder edge where there is a shoulder.
- Drainage: side-ditch drainage is never altered or impeded. TxDOT approves the size and design of any drainage structure.
Any drainage impact on the state highway system needs TxDOT’s approval before any local approval. Adjoining owners may also combine their frontage for one shared driveway, which TxDOT encourages.
A commercial driveway’s width and radius can vary with traffic and location. If the entrance serves a new business lot, plan it together with the parking lot paving.
What does TxDOT require for a driveway culvert?
Where a drive crosses the roadside ditch, a culvert pipe carries the water under it. On the state right of way, every driveway with a drainage structure gets safety end treatments. No culvert headwalls or similar vertical ends are allowed.
Pipe ends are sloped 6:1 or flatter, with concrete riprap to stop erosion and protect the pipe end. The driveway embankment slope is 6:1 at most, with 8:1 preferred. Pipes over 30 inches in diameter need grates, and so do multiple pipes over 24 inches each.
What surface does a driveway on state right of way need?
Driveways on the right of way are paved with a stabilized all-weather surface acceptable to TxDOT. That surface keeps mud off the highway and protects the pavement edge from vehicles using the drive. The permit holder furnishes all the materials, and TxDOT inspects and approves them.
That is where asphalt driveway paving or chip seal comes in. Ask the district office which surface it will accept before the work starts.
Some counties name surfaces too. Burleson County’s guidelines allow an optional surface course on rural residential driveway aprons. That can be 1 inch or more of hot mix or a one-course chip seal.
Which Brazos Valley counties require a driveway permit?
On a county road, the county sets the rules. Here is what four county documents in and near the Brazos Valley say.
| County | What its published driveway rules say |
|---|---|
| Madison | Permit for a new driveway or a culvert, or to change a dirt drive to asphalt or concrete. Also for any work in the county right of way. Culvert at least 24 feet long and 15 inches across; the precinct commissioner makes the final determination. No application fee at this time. |
| Grimes | A $26 permit. The Road Department sets the flowline before construction. Culvert at least 24 feet long, in corrugated steel, concrete, HDPE or HPP pipe. After installation, the applicant requests a final inspection. |
| Burleson | The Road and Bridge Department inspects the site and sets the culvert diameter. The precinct sends the culvert specs within seven days. The owner owns and maintains the driveway and culvert. Driveways onto TxDOT roads go through TxDOT. |
| Waller | Culvert at least 15 inches across and 20 feet long, in reinforced concrete or HDPE pipe. |
Brazos, Robertson, Leon and Walker counties set their own rules. Check with the county before work starts.
What about a driveway inside city limits?
On a city street, the city issues the permit. In Bryan, a Type D permit for residential right-of-way construction costs $100. It covers new driveway installation and driveway repair in the city right of way.
A state highway through town can be a different case. TxDOT’s manual covers places where a local public agency has been granted driveway permit authority on state highways. Ask the city and the TxDOT district office which one handles your drive.
When do you not need a driveway permit?
Madison County’s checklist names three jobs that need no driveway permit:
- adding a layer of gravel to an existing gravel driveway
- “seal coating an existing asphalt driveway,” in the county’s words
- general maintenance not involving resurfacing
That list is Madison County’s own rule. Widening a drive there still needs a permit, and so does changing a dirt drive to asphalt or concrete. In any other county or city, ask before any work in the right of way.
Do you need to call 811 before driveway work?
Yes, if the job means digging, such as setting a culvert. The Railroad Commission of Texas says state law requires you to call 811 at least 48 hours before you dig.
Texas Utilities Code 251.151 sets the window. The notice goes in no earlier than the 14th day before digging. It goes in no later than the 48th hour before, not counting weekends and legal holidays.
Ready to build the driveway to your permit?
If your drive ties into a state highway, an FM road or a county road, that road owner’s rules apply. We build to them. The property owner, or a representative they authorize, applies for the permit. Once it is approved, we install the culvert and build the drive from the base up.
We are based in North Zulch and work the Brazos Valley and about 60 miles around. See how our culvert installation and replacement works, or call or text (979) 595-5944 for a free estimate.