Driving to Perfection

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When you buy a new home, layout of the drive should be a major factor in the location and orientation of house and outbuildings. Walk the land until you know every dense stand of mature trees, every stream, wet spot, and rock outcropping. Then using a plat or survey map (if you have one), or paying for a topographical survey if you must, draw a detailed map of the land. Toy around with alternative layouts — avoiding as many hazards as you can. The more time you spend with paper and pencil, the easier time you will have when you go to lay out the drive.

Few of us have much choice when it comes to the compass direction that our drive faces and the terrain that it will traverse. If you do have an option, pick a southern exposure which will melt snow and dry quickly. Don't build a drive along the route of prevailing winds; it can become an expressway for cold blasts in winter and dust devils in summer.

If the drive is long and must run over extreme or complex elevations, across year-round streams or swamps — or must be blasted through rock ledge — you are in for a major expense. If this is the case, you are best advised to hire a civil engineer to lay it out for you. If your drive is short or on land with a gentle grade and easy rise and fall, you can do your own planning and layout on-site. Your strong back or a good heavy-equipment operator can do the rest.

Watch Out for Traffic

Traffic safety comes first, and you must locate and design the driveway entrance to offer ample visibility. Be certain that you check with the town clerk for local regulations. But in a typical rural jurisdiction, the view from the drive (its aspect ) must offer a clear view of oncoming vehicles for 500 feet in both directions on a highway carrying high-velocity (over 50 mph) traffic; and for 100 feet if it is a low-speed road.

To evaluate aspect, sink sticks at each side of your drive entry so that their tops are four to five feet above the road surface. Measuring from the center of the drive along the road, set one stick to your right on the far side of the road, and the other to the left on your side of the road. Check aspect as though you were sitting in a vehicle with its front bumper 10 feet back from the road edge. If you can remove trees or other obstructions to better see the stick tops and you can open a clear vista between them, get out the chain saw. If sharp curves, immovable terrain, or buildings preclude a safe aspect, then you're going to have to redesign or relocate the drive. If on a sharp curve, you may be able to widen or branch the entry, or you can build a one-way drive across the curve to provide an acceptable aspect at each end. If you cannot come up with a suitable plan, you may need a variance. Again, go and see the town clerk.

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