What size of driveway intersection?

[Innovate1]

We have a long drive with an offshoot to the more recent detached garage/shop. We have a flare between the two but it's a bit tight for amazon vans and especially bigger trucks. The drive across the bottom is the main one to the house that is for most visitors. The one to the top is currently gravel but planning to have it paved this summer. There is room to enlarge the curve on both sides but a little less on the right side. I can get my Tacoma and 22' RV trailer in and out without much trouble but thinking it would be good to enlarge it. What size or radius is reasonable? Of course, some of the truck drivers don't seem to be very good and can hardly back up let alone maneuver in tight spaces so I suppose some people will always be running off the road. At one point I had a couple 4 x 4 posts along the edge and a yard guy with a trailer hit that not even seeing it was there when he could have swung a big wider and easily missed it. Got so hung up on it we ended up just pulling the post to let him get out. We put some small boulders along the edge that seem to work pretty well but people bump them. For scale the main drive is 12' wide and the end of the pavement toward the shop is 15' wide.

 

[WillyBoy]

Note where the tire tracks are on the grass at the radius from people not making the corner and measure out 2 more feet and pave that.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Based on my personal experience with delivery drivers, it won't matter because they will still drive on the dirt. Don't know if you ever drive between your 2 structures, but if you do, I would make modifications on the left to facilitate that and provide an easier turn around place.

 

[Jacko264]

Make the corners as big as you can then put big rocks round the corners

 

[Pluribus]

The answer is always +2 feet. People will drive 2 feet off your existing surface with tight corners. If you make it 100 feet wide, people will still drive 2 feet off of the surfaced area.

 

[jack stand]

You might just dig out the grass a couple of feet 12-14" deep and fill it up with large (3"+) crushed stone.
Adding width to just a small and tapering area does not turn out well without a complete re surfacing of the whole area. Unless great attention is given to the sub grade it's bound to fail and the tapering portion has no hope at all. Concrete may be an option or a concrete curb at the existing edge? At least they can bounce off of it and try harder.

 

[Innovate1]

Based on my personal experience with delivery drivers, it won't matter because they will still drive on the dirt. Don't know if you ever drive between your 2 structures, but if you do, I would make modifications on the left to facilitate that and provide an easier turn around place.

Are you thinking the house is on the left? The street is to the left and house is to the right.

As for using crushed stone edges I understand the issue with adding several feet of asphalt. Likely to break up, especially at the joint with older stuff. The drive to the shop We should have done it all at once but what's done is done. Problem with crushed stone is weeds. That's why we are looking to pave the drive to the shop. I suppose if the rock is big and deep the weeds couldn't get started.

There is a culvert parallel to the main drive but there is quite a bit of room to it on the left.

 

[jack stand]

Roundup is great stuff and doesn't poison the soil. It is highly over demonized.
Then there's the fabric stuff and at that depth, (@ the radius's) it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Are you thinking the house is on the left? The street is to the left and house is to the right.

As for using crushed stone edges I understand the issue with adding several feet of asphalt. Likely to break up, especially at the joint with older stuff. The drive to the shop We should have done it all at once but what's done is done. Problem with crushed stone is weeds. That's why we are looking to pave the drive to the shop. I suppose if the rock is big and deep the weeds couldn't get started.

There is a culvert parallel to the main drive but there is quite a bit of room to it on the left.

Yes, I was thinking the house was to the left, because I am used to seeing "Y" drives where the base is from the road and the arms go to the buildings. I would still do the expansion on the left for 2 reasons - first you have more room there according to you and second I think the turn from the drive to the shop looks the most restricted.

 

[Jeff C]

Save your time and money and leave it as is. I’ve had the same experience as several above have mentioned. No matter how wide you make it people will still drive off the edge.

 

[Innovate1]

Yes, I was thinking the house was to the left, because I am used to seeing "Y" drives where the base is from the road and the arms go to the buildings. I would still do the expansion on the left for 2 reasons - first you have more room there according to you and second I think the turn from the drive to the shop looks the most restricted.

We were limited by existing things like a septic tank, good sized trees, etc or I would have made the shop drive more perpendicular so it was equally easy from both directions. I will probably just leave it as is. As several people have noted, some people will drive off the edge no matter how wide it is.

 

[ATC]

How many deliveries and visitors are you getting that driving off the driveway even 20% of the time is turning it to dirt? Sounds like a public roadway!
I like jack stand's idea above, of bordering the corners with stone. You can do an nice decorative white stone to accent the black pavement too.

I have a very similar intersection at my place. I can just barely back an 18' equipment trailer around it with my 22' long truck. I cannot make the turn with my 22' trailer, and must back in from the road. Luckily for me, the turn is surrounded by a rock wall on one side, and mature oak trees on the other. FedEx/UPS can't hurt it much. But unluckily for me, I want to widen it, which means removing large oaks and their stumps, and/or rebuilding the rock wall. I don't want to do either...

My drive is not paved, just gravel, so I've got that going for me. Can't hurt it!