Driveway and access permits and trip generation letters in Texas

Who reviews your driveway

The road decides the reviewer. TxDOT reviews any driveway onto a state highway, through its local district office, on an application from the property owner or an authorized representative. The county reviews driveways onto county roads, and the city reviews its own streets. Where a city holds TxDOT's driveway authority, TxDOT still approves the drainage impact on the highway.

A reviewer may also ask for a trip generation letter, an estimate of the traffic the site will add. It helps decide whether the site needs a turn lane or a fuller traffic impact analysis.

When you need one

• A new driveway onto a state highway, county road or city street.
• A road being widened next to your site, with right of way to dedicate.
• A use large enough to draw a turn lane or deceleration lane.
• A battery storage site whose access drive meets a state highway.

What we do

1. Confirm who controls the frontage and what that agency asks for.
2. Place the driveway against the spacing and sight distance rules.
3. Size the culvert under the driveway and show it in plan and profile.
4. Prepare the permit package, with its own site, grading and section sheets.
5. Write the traffic piece the reviewer asks for: a trip generation letter, a parking generation letter or a traffic impact analysis.
6. Coordinate with the city and TxDOT where both have a say, and answer comments.

A water or sewer line in state right of way is a separate TxDOT utility permit, filed by the utility that will own the line.

What you get

• A driveway design carried into the civil set.
• The permit package for the agency that controls the road.
• The trip generation letter or traffic study, and written responses to review.

What affects time and cost

• The road. A state highway driveway goes through the TxDOT district; county and city roads follow their own rules.
• What the reviewer adds. A turn lane, a deceleration lane or a right-of-way dedication grows the scope.
• Drainage at the road. The culvert and the ditch flow can change the design.
• Start order. On a battery storage site, the TxDOT driveway permit is typically the longest clock we control the start of, so we start it first. Review time itself is TxDOT's.