Blog · Cambridge

Widening a driveway in Cambridge: the 7-metre cap, the 45 per cent landscape rule and the boulevard

If an interlock project changes the width of your driveway at the street or adds a new access, the City of Cambridge requires an Access Permit with a design drawing before the work starts. The City's stated limits are a maximum permitted driveway width of 7 metres and a minimum of 45 per cent landscape space on the lot, and the City-owned boulevard may not be altered or widened without approval from the Transportation Division.

Last updated October 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the Cambridge Interlocking team

Do you need a permit to widen a driveway in Cambridge?

Yes, if the width at the street changes or a new access is created. The City of Cambridge's transportation corridor management page says an Access Permit is needed for any new driveway access to your property or for alterations to your existing access. The application is the residential Access Permit form plus a design drawing showing both the existing and proposed dimensions of the driveway, the length of any required curb cuts, and the materials you intend to use. Fees are paid at the Service Cambridge desk at City Hall and the receipt goes in with the submission, after which the City's team begins its review. The page gives no review timeline, so the permit goes in well before the pavers are ordered.

Replacing the existing surface within its current footprint is a different matter. Ordinary landscaping does not need a building permit according to the City's building permits page, and an interlock driveway that keeps the same width and the same apron is on your property with no change to the access. Where exactly the line sits for a given address, for example when the old asphalt has crept wider than the original approved width over the years, is a question the contractor we book for Cambridge puts to the City before drawing anything.

The 7-metre maximum and the 45 per cent landscape rule

Two numbers decide most residential applications. The City states that the maximum permitted driveway width is 7 metres (about 23 feet), and that a minimum of 45 per cent landscape space must be met. The first caps how wide the driveway can be at the street; the second limits how much of the lot can be hard surface at all, which on a narrow Hespeler or Preston lot can be the more restrictive of the two. A third parking space that would push the driveway past 7 metres, or that would take the landscaped share of the front yard below 45 per cent, is not available regardless of how the pavers are laid out.

That is worth knowing at the drawing stage rather than after the pavers are cut. A good design works backwards from those two limits: how wide the apron can be, how much of the frontage has to stay as lawn or garden, and where the interlock stops.

What counts as the boulevard, and what you may not do to it

The boulevard is the strip of City-owned land between your property line and the curb, usually the grass between the sidewalk and the road and the grass between the sidewalk and your lot. It looks like part of your front yard and it is not. The City's by-law inquiries page says you are not permitted to alter or widen the City-owned boulevard without prior approval from the Transportation Division. Widening the paved apron across it, laying interlock over it to make a wider entrance, or cutting the curb are all alterations to the boulevard and all need the City's approval, which is what the Access Permit process provides.

City trees in the boulevard are a frequent complication. If a City-owned tree must be removed for a wider driveway, the City's Forestry section assesses it and sets the removal and replacement valuation, all tree work is carried out by the City, and the resident pays the associated costs. On a mature street in Galt or Preston that valuation is often the fact that settles the design in favour of keeping the existing width.

Driveways on Regional roads

Some Cambridge addresses front onto a road owned by the Region of Waterloo rather than the City. Hespeler Road, Franklin Boulevard, King Street in Preston, Fountain Street and Blair Road are among them. On those the Region, not the City, issues the access permit. The Region's page says an access permit is required by anyone wanting to create a point of entry onto a property from a Regional road, and it asks applicants to contact its Corridor Planning team before filling out the application. Whether widening an existing entrance is treated as a new point of entry is a question for that team, and it gets asked before a quote is finalised. Everything behind the property line is still the City's zoning to satisfy, so a driveway on a Regional road can need both conversations.

Can you park on the front lawn instead?

No. The City's by-law inquiries page says parking on any portion of the front lawn is not permitted, and that landscaped open space areas cannot be used for parking or storing recreational equipment and utility trailers. A strip of gravel on the grass is not a workaround; it is an unpermitted parking area and a reduction in the landscaped share the 45 per cent rule protects. A properly permitted widening is the legal route to the extra space.

Drainage from a wider driveway

More hard surface means more runoff, and the City has rules for where it goes. The by-law inquiries page says yards must be graded and maintained to prevent ponding of storm water, and that drainage cannot be directed at a neighbouring property or directly onto an entranceway, walkway, stair or sidewalk. The City's Property Standards By-law 26-021 requires every area used for vehicular traffic and parking to be graded appropriately and kept in good repair. A wider interlock driveway therefore has to be pitched so water leaves it toward the street or onto your own lawn, not toward the neighbour's foundation, and where the driveway falls toward the garage a trench drain at the apron is part of the design.

What this means for your quote

A quote for a widening should list the Access Permit drawing and fee, any curb cut, and the possibility of a City tree valuation as separate lines so you can see them, and it should state the proposed width at the street and confirm it against the 7-metre cap and the 45 per cent rule for your lot. If the address is on a Regional road the quote should say so and name the Region as the permit authority. The contractor we book for Cambridge confirms the applicable rule for the exact address before a design is drawn, and declines widenings that cannot meet the rules. The driveway installation page covers what goes under the pavers once the width is settled, the Cambridge interlocking cost guide covers what permits and curb work add, and you can describe your frontage here to start.

Sources

• Transportation corridor management - City of Cambridge
• Common by-law inquiries - City of Cambridge
• Access permit - Region of Waterloo
• Building permits - City of Cambridge
• Property Standards By-law 26-021 - City of Cambridge