. Can you descend easily from the car when it is parked in the driveway, without getting your shoes wet or muddy in inclement weather
and without injuring the lawn?
. If your driveway turns at a right angle, is the minimum radius 18
feet (inside edge), and if it is a complete circle is the minimum
radius of the inside 19 to 20 feet?
. If the driveway has a circular turnaround, is the width of the traffic
surface 10 feet or, better still, 11 feet?
. Is the driveway approach to the garage level? If not, icy weather
will make it difficult to negotiate when you try to start again after
stopping to open the garage doors. There will be the added danger
of skidding into the door posts. The driveway should be level or
nearly level for a car's length or more out from the garage doors. If
the floor is not paved, the garage can be excavated, and the driveway
and floor brought into proper relationship. The doors can be lowered
to conform with the new level.
. Even though your driveway may be adequate for your car, can
garbage trucks, delivery trucks, oil trucks, or the oversized cars of
your friends negotiate it without getting scratched by tree limbs or
without having trouble with the turns?
. Is the surface of the driveway adequate, or does it need improvement with a permanent paving, such as concrete, or some fairly
durable one, such as blacktop?
Once you have the answers to these questions you are ready to make
your plans to increase the safety, as well as the usability, of your
driveway. The first thing to do is to take measurements of the space to
be covered, whether it is an old driveway being modernized or a new
one being laid out from scratch. Measure the distance from garage to
street or road, the distance from the lot line to edge of driveway from
the house to lot line, and note location of any trees or shrubs. Survey
plant material to see if any will have to be cut down or moved to prevent
trouble in future on the driveway, or if pruning may be necessary.
. . . charting the driveway
Lay out the measurements on squared graph paper and put some
tracing paper over the plan. Start sketching the course of the driveway
as you think it should go. On small lots, of course, it is usually best to
run the driveway directly to the street, the straight course taking up as
little as possible of the lot space.
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