Paving in Waco, TX from our office on New Dallas Highway

Paving in Waco: what’s different here

Waco is home. Our office is on New Dallas Highway, and we work in every part of the city, from older neighborhoods like Sanger Heights and Castle Heights to newer homes out toward Lake Waco, plus commercial lots along I-35, Valley Mills Drive and Franklin Avenue.

Waco’s ground is part of what makes paving here tricky. The city sits where the Brazos and Bosque rivers meet, on Eagle Ford shale (the Lake Waco Formation is named for its outcrops at the lake) and, to the east, on Blackland clay that swells and shrinks with the weather. Limestone shows up in the bluffs at Cameron Park. On clay, a driveway lives or dies on its base and drainage, so that’s where we put the work.

The city has clear rules for the part of a driveway that meets the street. A drive approach, curb or sidewalk, or any digging in the right-of-way, needs a separate Engineering permit, and concrete work in the right-of-way is only permitted to bonded contractors. Parking on grass is treated as a code violation, which is why many Waco homeowners add a paved parking pad.

Before you pave in Waco

• A drive approach, curb or sidewalk needs a City of Waco Engineering permit, separate from any building permit.
• Concrete work in the right-of-way is only permitted to bonded concrete contractors.
• The city charges inspection fees for drive approaches, and the fee doubles if work starts without a permit.
• Streets repaved in the last five years can’t be cut for a new connection without the city engineer’s approval.
• Driveways onto I-35 frontage roads, US 84 or SH 6 need a TxDOT permit.