Interlocking Driveways in Lorne Park

Lots in this corner of south-west Mississauga run large, and plenty of houses sit well back from roads like Lorne Park Road and Indian Road, so the driveway is as much a lane as a parking spot. Length changes the engineering. Delivery trucks, landscaping trailers and moving vans drive the full distance, and they turn and stop at the same spots every time. Those turning zones take the heaviest wear, so we build them deeper than the straight run.

The canopy is the other big factor. Mature oaks, maples and pines line many of these driveways, and their roots spread well past the drip line. Digging a deep base with a large machine right up to a trunk can damage a tree that took decades to grow. We map the big trees before design, keep the heaviest excavation outside the critical root zone where we can, and shift the line or narrow the driveway where we can't. Mississauga's private tree by-law and its rules for City-owned trees can apply, so permits are checked before any roots are cut.

Big lots tempt people to add a turnaround or an extra parking pad. That's often possible, but By-law 0182-2024 still caps driveway width by frontage, at 8.5 m for lots with 17 m or more, and any pad has to fit the zoning rather than going wherever there's lawn. A border course and a change of pattern can set the turnaround apart from the main run. On a long driveway, that also breaks up the length so it reads less like a runway and more like part of the garden.