A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a

private road A private road is a road owned or controlled by a private person, persons or corporation rather than a road open to the public and owned by a government. Private roads can be on private land or can be constructed on government land for use by go ...

for local access to one or a small group of structures owned and maintained by an individual or group. Driveways rarely have

traffic lights Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control the flow o ...

, but some may if they handle heavy traffic, especially those leading to commercial businesses or parks. Driveways may be designed and decorated in ways that

public road A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

s cannot because of their lighter traffic and the willingness of owners to invest in their construction. Driveways are not resurfaced, cleared of snow, or maintained by governments. They are generally designed to conform to the architecture, standards, and landscaping of connected houses or other buildings. Some materials used for driveways include concrete, decorative brick,

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

block paving A paver is a paving stone, Sett (paving), sett, tile, brick or brick-like piece of concrete commonly used as exterior flooring. They are generally placed on top of a foundation which is made of layers of compacted stone and sand. The pavers are ...

, asphalt,

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

resin-bound paving Resin-bound paving is a mixture of aggregate stones and resin used to pave footpaths, driveways, etc. It is a kind of permeable paving solution. It is a flexible surfacing material, so is resistant to cracking. Overview The system is mixed on si ...

, and decomposed granite. These materials may be surrounded with grass or other ground-cover plants. Driveways are commonly used as paths to private garages,

carport A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from rain and snow. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures, a carport does not have four walls, and u ...

s, or

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. On large estates, a driveway may be the road that leads to the house from the public road, possibly with a gate in between. Some driveways may be designed to serve different homeowners. A driveway may also refer to a small apron of pavement in front of a garage with a

curb cut A curb cut (U.S.), curb ramp, depressed curb, dropped kerb ( UK), pram ramp, or kerb ramp (Australia) is a solid (usually concrete) ramp graded down from the top surface of a sidewalk to the surface of an adjoining street. It is designed primaril ...

in the sidewalk, sometimes too short to accommodate a car. Often, either by choice or to conform with local regulations, cars are parked in driveways to leave streets clear for traffic. Moreover, some jurisdictions prohibit parking or leaving standing any motor vehicle upon any residential lawn area (the property from the front of a residential house, condominium, or cooperative to the street line other than a driveway, walkway, concrete, or blacktopped surface parking space). Other examples include the city of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

that forbids "any person to park or leave standing, or cause to be parked or left standing any vehicle upon any public street in the City for seventy-two or more consecutive hours." Other areas may prohibit leaving vehicles on residential streets during certain times (for instance, to accommodate regular street cleaning), necessitating the use of driveways. Residential driveways may serve as the place for conducting

garage sale A garage sale (also known as a yard sale, tag sale, moving sale and by many other namesSome rarely used names include "attic sale", "basement sale", "rummage sale", "thrift sale", "patio sale", "lawn sale", and "jumble sale".) is an informal ...

s, automobile washing and repair, and recreation, notably (in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

) for basketball practice.

References

{{Room Types of roads Architectural elements Garden features

See also

References