How long of a driveway is too long?

[MGH PA]

Subjective question, I know.

I will, in the future, have access to a good chunk of land to build on. It's a perfect piece of property in a lot of aspects (abuts my parent's property that I hunt now, great views, even more hunting opportunity, etc). The downfall is that the only way in to the property (where I want to build), is going to require roughly a 1/2 mile driveway. About 80% of the driveway ROW right now is open field (currently farmed), with the last 20% or so heading into timber (mostly Hemlock and some Oak). It doesn't have any switchbacks or serious elevation gain. In fact, the route we would take would involve mostly long straight stretches with a few slight turns.

We haven't surveyed yet, but mapping it in Google Earth shows and elevation profile that has an average slope of 6.5% and 112ft of gain and 82ft of loss through the route.

To be honest, I grew up on property with a 1/4 mile driveway that had steeper elevation and was cut into the side of a ridge. I'm not a stranger to road maintenance, but tacking on another 1/4 mile does give me some pause. I will have maintenance covered as my dad and I have a plow truck, and a tractor for grading and other work, but it may come down to is it worth the work?

You don't hear of many people around here living off of 1/2 mile driveways and I imagine there's a reason for that. Most people don't like maintaining a simple 100ft driveway.

So, if you found a great piece of ground, great building spot, and the price was REALLY right, would a long driveway be a deal breaker for you?

Love to hear your thoughts.

 

[nybirdman]

Sounds perfect to me!I maintain about 3/8 of a mile for my business,good excuse to use the tractor.I would invest in a box blade if you don't have one.Are you going to build a road on the ROW?

 

[murphy1244]

I turned down a property that used a 2200 feet drive. Just too much. I bought a house with a 800 foot concrete drive with a circle.

 

[Mendonsy]

It depends a lot on the winter weather. During a bad winter it could be a real pain to keep that much driveway open.

 

[kevinwak]

1/2 mile sounds perfect. Especially f it means you are half a mile from the nearest neighbour...

 

[BigBoyToys]

I grew up on property with a 1/4 mile driveway

Whatever you used to maintain the 1/4 mi..X2!
Good excuse to get a bigger tractor. :thumbsup:
I'd go for it.

 

[jk96]

My odometer turns to 1 mile as I pull into the garage. Been maintaining for about 4 years now. Usually re-rock once per year at about $2,500. I don't mind it at all so far and enjoy the quiet. Our closest neighbor is 3/4 of a mile away.

Jeremy

 

[MGH PA]

Whatever you used to maintain the 1/4 mi..X2!
Good excuse to get a bigger tractor. :thumbsup:

Believe it or not, my dad didn't buy his tractor until after I graduated high school. Lots of manual labor and lots of deliveries of stone

 

[dodge man]

It really depends on what's important to you. If its the perfect spot for a house and you can live with maintaining a drive that long, its probably worth it. I on the other hand like cars and wouldn't want to deal with driving down gravel all the time. My drive is around 600 feet long and paved and I wouldn't want it any longer.

 

[prichard]

Sounds ideal to me! I don't like to have neighbors. Of course we don't have much of any kind of snow to deal with.

My concern would be cost to get electric to it. I have a friend that is building with a 1600' driveway. The electric co wanted $12,000 to run power back to him even though distribution is right on the street at the end of the driveway. FWIW, Internet or cable cabling buried and they only charged him $160. And keep in mind there will be more maintenance in the first year or so as heavy trucks for building a house will tear it up faster.

 

[kcflhrc]

That's a lot of gravel. My drive is about 900', I wouldn't want any more or any less for that matter. It's just about right.

 

[dmccarty]

A long driveway to perfect for me. Not really much cost in maintaining the driveway if it is built right the first time.

A bigger concern is will you have to pay to have utilities brought to the house? We looked at one place and it might have cost us $10-20,000 to bring in power. :shocked:

Later,
Dan

 

[MGH PA]

Utilities won't need to come in from this side. There's a farmhouse about 150-200yds from where I would want to build (down over a hill) that has power to it. I would only need to run power from that point on (the house is part of the property).

 

[Looking4new]

A 2600 foot laneway sounds perfect to me. I would say go for it!

 

[jfh28]

I've got a 1/4 and after 10+ years my feeling is a 1/2 mile would be no big deal........it's great for walking the dogs down it.....you can feel stress disappear when you turn into it at the end of the day and drive towards home........yeah the winters a pain in the butt sometimes......but it's seat time and gets me in the fresh air.....haha......mines all wooded so ice is a big problem as the sun never hits it to melt.....once we get an ice storm it's there to stay until spring.......have to cut the leaves off it in the fall.......remove the odd tree that might fall across........and touch up the steep parts after those torrential rains........but I wouldn't trade it for the world........Jack

 

[techman]

I have 3/4 mile for mine. When we first built it was dirt, which was a mess. After a couple of years we spread 500 tons of modified. **** on the snowblower, but it got better each year. Every year I added 3-5 tons to fill in ruts and washouts. After 12 years we scraped together enough money and blacktopped it 8' wide. Nice thing was that all of the gravel was a good base and the paver did not need to redo it, just scraped it flat. Since then (16 years) little to no maintenance. Paving is the way to go, but it does take money.

paul

 

[Looking4new]

blacktopped it 8" wide.
paul

8 inches wide is pretty skinny even for a motorcycle. I have to assume you mean 8' (feet) wide.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

My drive is 3500'. It is the same thing used on the county roads, a mix of rock and clay. It packs as hard as concrete but the ride is bumpy. Because it has rocks of good size, dragging it would likely create a mess. The plan is to cover it with a few inches of gravel after our home construction is finished.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I grew up with a 9/10 mi drive and loved it. Now I can see about a dozen houses from my yard and they say this is out in the country. Would love to have a drive that long, the piece and quiet, a place to walk and think without so many people around. GO FOR IT!!!!! Ed

 

[LD1]

I have plowed and maintained some 1/2 mile drives. It much different than 1/4 mile, just takes more stone. Plowing only takes a few minutes more with a truck. A pass up and down. The time consuming part is the approach and parking areas