Morgan County road access should be checked before a new driveway

A driveway on a Morgan County acreage is part of the driving system before it is ever part of the landscaping. Where it meets the road is the part the county pays attention to.

Road and Bridge handles driveway access, road right-of-way permits, and the right-of-way regulations that go with them. A new or changed entrance onto a county road gets reviewed before any dirt moves, and that review is worth lining up early.

The reasons are practical. Sight distance, culverts, drainage, road shoulders, and the angle traffic enters the road all shape whether an approach is safe and whether water still drains the way it should. A new home, a shop, a field entrance, or a switch to business use can each change the calculation. These are far easier to settle on paper than after a contractor has already cut the approach into the shoulder.

The right office depends on the road, not the mailing address. An entrance onto a county road starts with Road and Bridge. One onto a city street or a state highway belongs to that jurisdiction instead, so it pays to know which road you are actually touching before anyone gets a permit half-started.