Driveway Widening: Design Options, Cost Factors, and What to Plan First

Maybe your driveway technically works, but just barely.

You’re constantly driving over the grass. Two vehicles don’t fit comfortably next to each other. Guests have nowhere to park. Backing out of the garage is awkward. Or your family simply has more vehicles today than when the driveway was originally built.

Widening an asphalt driveway can make a huge difference in how your property functions.

But before adding pavement, it’s worth thinking carefully about where you need the extra space, how you’ll use it, and how the new area will affect drainage and the rest of the property.

We’ve been paving driveways across western Wisconsin and the Minnesota east metro since 1978, including driveway installation and widening for homeowners in the St. Paul area. These are the questions we’d want answered before any new pavement goes down.

A good driveway shouldn’t just look good.

It should make your property easier to use every day.

Start With the Problem You’re Trying to Solve

Before deciding how many feet to add, ask yourself what isn’t working about the current driveway.

• Do you need room to park two vehicles side by side?
• Are you constantly driving off the edge when backing out of the garage?
• Do you need guest parking?
• Do you have a trailer, boat or RV?
• Would a turnaround make it easier to get onto a busy road?
• Do delivery vehicles struggle to turn around?
• Are you simply tired of maintaining gravel along the edges of an asphalt driveway?

The best widening design starts with understanding the problem.

Sometimes adding a couple of feet along one side is the answer.

Other times, changing the shape of the driveway provides much more value than simply making the entire driveway wider.

Option 1: Widen the Entire Driveway

One option is to add width along most or all of the existing driveway.

This can make sense when the driveway is consistently too narrow, particularly on longer driveways where two vehicles need more room to pass comfortably.

But adding width over the entire length can add a significant amount of pavement.

Before doing that, consider whether you actually need the additional width everywhere.

Sometimes targeted widening can accomplish the same goal with less pavement. If you’re not sure what width makes sense, our driveway width guide covers standard sizes.

Option 2: Widen Near the Garage

This is one of the most common improvements we see.

A driveway may be wide enough for normal traffic but become uncomfortable near a two- or three-car garage.

Adding pavement around the garage can provide more room to:

• Back vehicles out
• Maneuver between garage stalls
• Park additional vehicles
• Load and unload
• Keep tires off the lawn
• Maneuver trailers

A relatively small change in this area can dramatically improve how the driveway functions. If you’re planning around a two-car garage, our two-car driveway width guide goes deeper on sizing.

Option 3: Add a Parking Pad

If your main concern is parking, you may not need to widen the entire driveway.

A dedicated parking area can provide space for:

• Guest vehicles
• Teen drivers
• Boats
• Trailers
• RVs
• Work vehicles

The important question is where that parking area should go.

We want it to be convenient without creating unnecessary pavement or interfering with drainage and traffic flow.

Option 4: Add a Turnaround

A turnaround can be one of the most useful additions to a driveway, especially on busy roads or long rural driveways.

Instead of backing all the way down the driveway or backing into traffic, you can turn the vehicle around on your property and drive forward onto the road.

The design depends on the available space and the vehicles that will use it.

A pickup truck, large SUV, trailer or delivery vehicle needs more maneuvering room than a small car.

That’s why a turnaround should be designed around how you actually use it, not simply how it looks on a drawing.

Option 5: Widen Only Where You Need It

Sometimes the smartest design is a combination.

Maybe the driveway stays its current width near the street, widens as it approaches the house, and opens into a larger parking and turnaround area near the garage.

This can provide the functionality you want without paving unnecessary square footage.

Good driveway design isn’t always about making everything bigger.

It’s about putting pavement where it provides the most value.

What’s Under the New Section?

This is extremely important.

If we’re widening an existing asphalt driveway into an area that is currently lawn or landscaping, we can’t simply remove the grass and install asphalt.

The new section needs a proper foundation.

That typically means excavating unsuitable material and constructing an aggregate base that can support the new pavement.

The existing driveway may have had years or decades to settle and consolidate.

The new section hasn’t.

Proper excavation, aggregate placement and compaction are critical so the widened section has the support it needs.

So can the existing base simply be extended? Sometimes the base under your current driveway is in good shape and gives us a solid edge to build from. The new area still needs its own excavation, aggregate and compaction, though, and the spot where old meets new needs careful attention.

In Minnesota and Wisconsin, freeze-thaw cycles make this even more important. A new section built on a weak base can settle or move differently than the older driveway beside it, and the seam between old and new is often where it shows.

How Will the New Asphalt Meet the Existing Driveway?

If you’re keeping the existing driveway and only adding pavement along one side, the transition between the old and new pavement needs to be considered.

The condition of the existing asphalt matters.

If the existing driveway is already badly cracked, deteriorated or near the end of its useful life (see signs your driveway is beyond repair), spending money to widen it may not be the best long-term decision.

In that situation, it may make more sense to widen the driveway as part of a complete removal and replacement.

That allows the entire driveway, old and new areas, to be evaluated and constructed as one project.

Drainage Has to Be Part of the Design

Adding pavement changes where water can go.

An area that used to be grass or landscaping may have absorbed water. Once that area becomes asphalt, water will move across the surface instead.

That’s why widening isn’t simply a question of:

“Where can we fit more asphalt?”

We also need to ask:

“Where will the water go?”

The new pavement may need to slope toward the yard, street or another appropriate drainage area.

Garage floors, sidewalks, retaining walls, neighboring properties and existing yard elevations can all affect the design.

Spring snowmelt is when many drainage problems show themselves, so it’s worth thinking this through before the pavement goes in, not after.

Watch the Finished Elevations

When adding pavement next to an existing driveway, we need enough room to create the proper base while still reaching the correct finished asphalt elevation.

We also need to consider how the new pavement will meet:

• Garage floors
• Sidewalks
• Concrete aprons
• Curbs
• Streets
• Existing asphalt
• Lawns and landscaping

These details can determine whether a widening idea that looks simple on paper actually works in the field.

Don’t Forget About Sprinklers, Utilities and Landscaping

The area beside a driveway often contains more than grass.

There may be:

• Irrigation heads and lines
• Landscape lighting
• Invisible dog fences
• Drainage systems
• Trees and roots
• Retaining walls
• Utility boxes
• Landscaping

These should be identified before construction begins.

It’s much easier to plan around them before excavation than discover them once equipment is already working.

Underground utilities should also be located and marked before any digging starts. Calling 811 begins that process in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, and in Minnesota it connects you with Gopher State One Call. Ask your contractor how utility locates will be handled on your project.

Local Rules May Affect What You Can Do

Depending on where you live, there may be restrictions on driveway width, setbacks, impervious surface area or changes near the street.

Work within the public right-of-way or changes to the driveway entrance may also require approval.

Cities, townships and counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin can each set their own rules, and a homeowners association may add guidelines of its own.

Before finalizing a major widening project, make sure the proposed layout complies with local requirements. Your local planning or zoning office is the best place to confirm what applies to your property.

What Determines the Cost of Widening a Driveway?

There isn’t one simple price for driveway widening.

Driveway widening cost depends on much more than the number of square feet being added.

Important factors include the amount of excavation required, aggregate base needed, access for equipment, drainage, existing asphalt condition, amount of handwork, landscaping removal, transitions and the overall size of the project.

There’s another important factor:

Are we widening a driveway we’re already replacing, or mobilizing an entire paving operation just to construct a small addition?

If you’re already replacing your driveway, widening it at the same time can often be much more efficient than coming back years later to add a relatively small section.

If you’d like a rough starting point while you plan, our asphalt driveway calculator can help you estimate your driveway project. It’s a ballpark, not a quote, and a widening project needs a site visit to price accurately. For the bigger picture on cost, see our asphalt driveway guide.

Replacing Your Driveway? Plan the Widening Now

If you’re already considering a new asphalt driveway, this is the best time to step back and ask:

If we could redesign this driveway today, would we build it exactly the same way?

Maybe the answer is yes.

But maybe you’d add two feet near the garage.

Maybe you’d create a parking spot for a third vehicle.

Maybe you’d add a turnaround.

Maybe you’d change a curve that has always been awkward.

Maybe you’d make more room for a trailer.

Once the old asphalt is removed, we have an opportunity to rethink how the driveway functions before rebuilding it.

That doesn’t mean you need to make it bigger.

It means you have an opportunity to make it better.

If you’d rather add to the driveway you already have, see our driveway extensions in Minnesota and driveway extensions in Wisconsin.

Experience Matters in Driveway Design

At Blacktop Concepts, our estimators bring hands-on paving knowledge to every project. That experience matters when discussing a driveway widening project.

They’re not simply measuring the additional square footage.

They’re thinking about how the crew will actually build it.

• What needs to be excavated?
• How much base will the new section need?
• Where will the water go?
• Will the new layout actually give the homeowner enough room?
• How will vehicles move through the space?
• How will the new pavement tie into the existing driveway?
• Are there elevation problems that need to be solved first?

There’s a big difference between drawing a wider driveway and understanding how to build one that works. Our estimators consider both.

FAQs About Paving a Long or Rural Driveway

Design It Around How You Live

A driveway isn’t just a strip of pavement between your garage and the street.

It’s something you use every day.

You park on it. Back out of the garage on it. Shovel and snowblow it. Your kids learn to drive on it. Guests park on it. Delivery trucks use it. Boats and trailers may need to maneuver on it.

In Minnesota and Wisconsin, snowbanks and plowing can make a tight driveway feel even smaller in winter, so it’s worth planning space for snow, too.

If your current driveway isn’t working well, widening or redesigning it can be a great opportunity to make your property more functional.

Start by thinking about how you want to use the space.

Then work backward from there to determine the right layout, base preparation, drainage and construction plan.

Because the goal shouldn’t simply be more asphalt.

It should be a better driveway.

If you’re thinking about widening or redesigning your driveway, we’d be happy to walk the property with you, look at what’s there and talk through your options. Request a free site-planning estimate or call us at 651-735-7134.

We serve homeowners in the St. Paul, MN and Hudson, WI areas. Every driveway we pave is backed by our 5-year driveway warranty.

Blacktop Concepts. Paving the Way Since 1978.