Concrete Driveways in Murfreesboro, TN

Some Lots Need a Four-Car Driveway

In the RS-4, RS-6, RS-8, RD, CM-R, CM-RS-8, OG-R and CL districts, Murfreesboro's zoning ordinance sets the front of an attached garage on a detached single-family home at least 35 feet back, with the rest of the house at 25 feet. It also says the driveway to that garage must be wide and deep enough to hold four vehicles^[1].

That is why so many newer Murfreesboro driveways are long double-wide slabs. If you are replacing one of those, the new driveway should not come out smaller than the rule allows. If you are widening a narrow older drive in one of these districts, four cars is the number to design toward.

How we size it

We start from the zoning district on your plat or the city's map, then measure the garage setback and the space to the right-of-way line. Stacked parking counts on most streets, which is covered below, so a long, two-car-wide drive can meet a four-car rule without paving the whole front yard.

Front-Yard Parking Depends on Your Street

The ordinance treats lots differently depending on the street they face. On a lot that does not front a major arterial, minor arterial or collector street in the city's Major Transportation Plan, one required parking space may be reached through another, so tandem parking in a long drive is allowed^[2], and up to four required spaces per dwelling unit may sit in the required front yard^[3].

On an arterial or collector, the rules tighten. Parking goes to the side or rear of the house, no more than one required space may be in the required front yard, and the parking has to be designed so nobody backs into the street to leave. Backing in from the street to reach required parking is prohibited too^[4].

What that looks like on a busy street

On those lots, a straight single-car drive usually is not enough. The common answers are a turnaround pad beside the drive, a side-entry layout, or a drive that runs past the house to parking in back. Each adds concrete, so it shows up in the price, and each needs grading that keeps water off the garage floor.

No Gravel: The Surface Rule

Section 26 of the zoning ordinance requires parking areas, loading spaces and maneuvering areas to be surfaced with asphalt, concrete or another hard, dustless material, and it limits gravel and bituminous surface treatment to wrecker storage yards and material or equipment storage areas, and only with Development Services approval^[5]. The ordinance's definition of a hard dustless surface names driveways specifically and lists concrete, asphalt and pavers, or an equivalent the Planning Director approves with the City Engineer^[6].

For owners, that usually means a gravel extension beside the driveway is not the cheap shortcut it looks like. If you need more parking, plan to pour it.

There Is a Ceiling on Parking, Too

In single-family and duplex districts, the ordinance allows no more than six parking spaces per dwelling unit, not counting spaces inside a garage^[7]. A driveway, a side pad and a boat or trailer pad can reach that number faster than people expect, so we count spaces on the layout before we price a large expansion.

Zero-lot-line subdivisions have an extra limit: the required front yard has to stay at least 50 percent grass or landscaping, not counting parking, walks and sidewalks^[8]. On those lots, a wider driveway can run out of room quickly.

Where the Drive Meets the Curb

Murfreesboro's Street Design Specifications put a 4-inch rollover curb, a mountable curb with a 12-inch gutter pan, on local streets and on collector streets that have residential driveways. Arterials and collectors without residential driveways get a 6-inch vertical curb that is not mountable^[9].

So on most subdivision streets, the curb in front of your house is one a car can roll over, and we plan the new slab to meet it cleanly. Widening where the driveway meets the street is a different job: that is work in the city right-of-way, and it needs the Engineering Department's right-of-way permit first^[10].

Building It for Middle Tennessee Ground

Under the slab, we grade and compact the subgrade, dig out soft spots, place a compacted stone base sized to the soil, and set the finished slope so water leaves the garage and heads for the street or a yard that can take it. Control joints go in at spacing that matches the slab thickness, cut before the concrete can crack on its own. For the full build, see concrete driveways.

Murfreesboro Driveway Prices

A standard concrete driveway runs a ballpark $9 to $13 per square foot. The final price is set at a free on-site visit. In Murfreesboro, what moves it most is the size the zoning rules call for, a turnaround or side pad on a busy street, removing the old slab, and the work at the curb. Our Murfreesboro page covers the city's right-of-way permit and street specs.

Our Murfreesboro Proof

The Murfreesboro job on our homepage is a pool deck, not a driveway. Pool deck details are on our Murfreesboro patios and pool decks page.