Wake County, NC Parking Rules: Driveway Rules (2026)

Driveway access in Wake County is governed almost entirely by state and municipal — not county — law. Per the UNC School of Government summary of North Carolina driveway law (Coates' Canons, "What You Need to Know about Driveway Permits and Road Access"), North Carolina counties "lack express statutory authority to regulate driveways directly" and instead influence access only indirectly through subdivision and zoning regulations. Wake County's Unified Development Ordinance therefore does not contain a stand-alone driveway-permit chapter; instead, the UDO regulates driveway location and surfaces only as part of subdivision plat review and as part of the off-street parking setbacks that apply within each zoning district.

The operative rule for almost all unincorporated Wake County properties is therefore the NC Department of Transportation's "Policy on Street and Driveway Access to North Carolina Highways" (2003, periodically amended), adopted under N.C.G.S. 136-18(39). Most secondary roads in unincorporated Wake County carry an "SR" prefix and are maintained by NCDOT, which means any new driveway connection onto those roads requires NCDOT review. Applications for street and driveway access permits in Wake County are filed with the NCDOT District 5 Engineer at the Wake County office (919-733-3213). The application form (TEB-65-04) and the permit-submission user guide are published on the NCDOT Connect portal.

NCDOT's Policy on Street and Driveway Access requires each driveway connection to: (a) provide adequate intersection sight distance based on the posted speed of the road; (b) be located so that the sight-distance triangle is clear of obstructions; (c) be aligned roughly perpendicular to the road centerline (commonly within ±15 degrees of 90); (d) include a NCDOT-specified drainage culvert sized to the road's open ditch; and (e) tie to the road at the existing pavement grade with an acceptable approach slope. For developments expected to generate more than 3,000 vehicle trips per day, NCDOT requires a Traffic Impact Analysis; for more than 4,000 trips per day, NCDOT may require the applicant to fund acceleration/deceleration lanes, turn-storage lanes, or median improvements (per the 2012 Supreme Court decision in High Rock Lake Partners, LLC v. NCDOT, those conditions must relate specifically to the driveway connection itself).

Single-family residential driveways are an important practical exception. NCDOT's Driveway Permit FAQ explicitly states that "permits are normally not required for a single residence," but encourages property owners to contact the District Engineer to coordinate driveway-pipe installation, identify safety and design issues, and avoid conflicts with planned highway projects. Homeowners building a single-family driveway in unincorporated Wake County should therefore still call NCDOT District 5 at the front end. For driveways onto streets inside one of Wake County's incorporated municipalities (Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon, Fuquay-Varina, Rolesville), the municipal engineering or public-works department issues the permit, and where a state road passes through a municipality both NCDOT and the city may regulate the connection — "the more stringent requirement shall apply" (G.S. 160A-307).