Tippecanoe County, IN Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

18(A) makes it unlawful to cut, dig, trench, or otherwise interfere with the surface or subsurface of any county highway or street, or the easement next to it, without first getting a permit from the County Highway Engineer. The Engineer's office keeps standard forms for six specific uses of the right-of-way: cutting into a highway or working within the right-of-way, permit bonds, driveway and entrance construction, pole line installation across a county highway, closing or blocking a highway, and transporting overweight or oversized objects along county roads.

18(B) sets the bond floor: a continuing $5,000 bond running three years from completion of the work, reduced to $1,000 when a private property owner is only working in the right-of-way adjacent to their own land; the Engineer can approve bonds up to $10,000 directly on behalf of the Board of Commissioners. 16 require entrances to sit at least five feet from the adjacent property line, cap approach grade at 15% unless otherwise specified, and mandate drainage pipe at least 12 inches in diameter, all administered through the same permit.

19's fee schedule charges $10 for a temporary driveway up to $200 for a major subdivision or rural estate driveway, plus per-foot rates for road cuts, trenching, and excavation and $250 per mile for pole lines. This chapter applies only to the county highway system in the unincorporated area; it does not reach streets inside Lafayette or West Lafayette, which administer their own right-of-way permits.