St. Louis Region
A Franklin County driveway onto a county road needs a permit check
Franklin County says new or modified driveways and entrances from county roads need an entrance permit through the Highway Department.
A new entrance off a rural Franklin County road is not just a gravel-and-culvert chore. A driveway or entrance from a county road needs an entrance permit through the Highway Department, and work inside the roadway right-of-way needs the same kind of county attention.
That catches more projects than people expect: cutting a first access to a house site, widening an old farm entrance, replacing a culvert, or setting up access for a subdivision road. When a driveway culvert is needed, the homeowner buys and installs it, while the permit keeps the road ditch, drainage, and right-of-way from becoming someone else’s problem after the first heavy rain.
The useful first question is road ownership. A state route, a city street in a town, a private subdivision road, and a Franklin County road can send you to different desks. For a county-road entrance, take the plan to the Highway Department while the access is still only paint, stakes, or an idea on a survey.
References
More from Franklin County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: July 16, 2026.