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Keeping Sight Lines Clear Where a Driveway Meets the Street

By georgetown metal gates files

A driveway gate in Georgetown has one job that the owner rarely thinks about until the first close call: letting the driver see the street, and letting people on the street see the driver. Where a driveway meets the road, clear sight lines matter more than the look of the gate. A column, a solid panel, a hedge or a parked trailer can each hide a child on a bike or a car coming down the road, and the best time to prevent that is before the gate is designed.

The two sight lines that matter

The first is the view out. A driver backing out of a drive, or pulling forward after the gate opens, needs to see traffic from both directions and anyone walking along the sidewalk. The second is the view in. Drivers and pedestrians on the street need to see a vehicle coming out in time to react. Both views are cut by anything tall and solid near the edge of the drive.

The sight triangle rule on corner lots addresses this at intersections. A mid block driveway has no formal triangle in the same way, but the same logic holds, and a thoughtful design leaves the area beside the drive open.

Where the gate sits

A gate set right at the sidewalk forces a driver to stop with part of the car across the sidewalk or in the road while the gate opens. A gate set back from the street gives the car room to pull off the road and wait. A common guide is to set the gate back far enough that the longest vehicle the family uses can stand clear of the street. Trucks and trailers need more room than a sedan. This is often the single most useful decision in the design.

A setback gate also moves the gate away from the area where sight lines matter most, since the structure now stands some distance back from the sidewalk and the street edge.

Columns and posts

Masonry columns at each side of a gate look good and block a lot of view. A column a foot and a half square is wide enough to hide a small child at the edge of a drive. If the design needs columns, consider slim steel posts instead, or set the columns back from the street with the gate between them. Where a column must stand close to the street, keep it low or round and keep the zone between the column and the street clear of planting.

Solid panels beside the opening

A solid wall or fence running along the street on either side of the opening cuts the driver's view of the sidewalk. Open bar fencing along the first stretch beside the drive keeps the view. Many owners use a solid section further along the property, where it does not touch the sight line, and use open fencing near the drive.

Planting near the drive

Shrubs, ornamental grasses and trees with low branches can do the same damage as a wall, and they grow. A planting that is fine in its first year may be a screen by its third. Keep low plants near the drive and move tall ones back, and trim regularly. In Georgetown's warm growing season a hedge can gain a foot in a summer.

Mailboxes, signs and equipment

Mailboxes, entry keypads, call boxes, address signs and utility cabinets often sit beside the drive. Each one is a small obstruction, and several together can add up to a wall. Keep them low, keep them together, and keep them to one side of the opening rather than both. A keypad for the gate operator belongs on the side where the driver sits, set back enough that the car is off the road when the driver reaches it.

Automatic gates and timing

An automatic gate opener adds a time factor. A slow gate keeps a car waiting at the street, and a gate that closes too fast can catch a car. Safety sensors, an obstruction reversing feature and a reasonable opening speed all help. A gate that opens from a remote before the car reaches it avoids the wait at the street entirely, and a wide enough opening lets the driver pull straight in.

Walkers and cyclists

Sidewalks and shared paths run past many Georgetown driveways, and cyclists on them move faster than walkers. A driver who can see along the sidewalk in both directions before crossing it is far less likely to meet one at the wrong moment. Keep the strip beside the sidewalk free of anything above knee height for several feet on each side of the drive.

Checking the design

Before the gate is built, sit in the driver's seat of the family's tallest and lowest vehicles at the proposed stopping point and look both ways. A friend standing at the sidewalk edge in several spots can help show what is hidden. Stakes and string at the proposed column and fence positions make the test easy. Any spot where a stakeholder vanishes is a spot to move or lighten.

• Test the view from the driver's seat of each vehicle that uses the drive.
• Test the view from the sidewalk, looking toward the drive.
• Check again after planting has grown.
• Check at dusk, when shadows and headlights change what can be seen.

City and association input

The planning office can confirm what the code says about clear zones beside drives, and an association may add its own rules about gate setbacks and entry features. Ask both before the design is final. Rules differ for drives that open onto a busy collector road and those on a quiet cul de sac.

A gate that looks good and keeps the street visible gives the owner a safer drive and a stronger case with any reviewer, and it costs nothing more than a little planning at the start.

School zones and busy streets in town

Several Georgetown streets carry school traffic, with walkers and cyclists in the morning and afternoon. A drive that opens near a school route needs extra care, since children move fast and often come from behind a fence or a parked car. On such a street, an open gate set well back from the road and a clear strip beside the sidewalk are worth more than any decorative feature.

Night and weather

Sight lines shrink after dark and in heavy rain. A well lit drive entrance, with a low light that does not shine into the street, helps drivers see the gate and the sidewalk. Reflective address numbers at the gate help emergency crews, and a light on the keypad helps the driver stop in the right place. Spring storms in Central Texas can flood a low drive entrance, so check how the gate and the nearby planting handle water.