Concrete driveway removal in Bellevue
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Taking out a concrete driveway in Bellevue is really two jobs that meet at the sidewalk. The slab on your lot is private work. The apron, the sloped piece between the street and the sidewalk, sits in the city's right of way. Bellevue makes the apron your job to pay for but its job to approve.
This page covers the driveway-specific part: which permit the apron needs, what the city's design manual says the new one must look like, and what to settle before anyone starts saw-cutting. The general picture for the city, including who maintains sidewalks, is on our Bellevue page.
Local facts for Bellevue
- The apron permit
- Bellevue's Residential Right of Way Permit (TG) covers driveway reconstruction or relocation in the right of way for existing single-family homes. Apply through MyBuildingPermit with a Bill To form and a scaled site plan. Source: City of Bellevue: Residential Right of Way Permit
- Apron dimensions
- Bellevue's Transportation Design Manual (May 2024) requires a driveway apron at least 5 feet wide with a running slope of no more than 10%. Source: City of Bellevue Transportation Design Manual, Volume 1 Part 1 (May 2024)
- Landing grade
- Driveway landings are limited to a 10% grade for 20 feet past the back of the approach, and to 15% after that. Source: City of Bellevue Transportation Design Manual, Volume 1 Part 1 (May 2024)
- Who maintains the apron
- Bellevue says driveway approaches are not maintained by its Streets Department. Repairing or replacing an apron is the homeowner's responsibility and needs a right-of-way use permit. Source: City of Bellevue: Right of way FAQs
- Utility locates
- Washington's Call Before You Dig law, RCW 19.122, requires a locate request through 811 at least two business days before digging. Source: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission: Call before you dig
The permit: Bellevue's Residential Right of Way Permit (TG)
Bellevue issues a Residential Right of Way Permit, coded TG, for right-of-way work tied to an existing single-family home. The city's description names driveway installation and "driveway reconstruction or relocation" in its scope. You apply through MyBuildingPermit.
The minimum upload is a Bill To form and a site plan. Bellevue wants the plan drawn at a scale between 1 inch = 20 feet and 1 inch = 50 feet, showing the address, the names of nearby streets, a north arrow, the driveway entrances and the scope of the work in the right of way. Depending on the project, plan review can also ask for a clearing and grading permit or an Olympic Pipeline notification.
If the job stops at your property line and leaves the apron alone, there is no right-of-way work for this permit to cover. Ask anyone quoting the job to mark the saw-cut line on a photo, so you know which side of the line the work falls on before you apply for anything.
What the new apron has to look like
Bellevue's Transportation Design Manual (May 2024 edition) sets the shape of the approach, meaning the part of the driveway inside the public right of way. Where a new driveway goes in as part of frontage improvements, the approach must be a formed concrete structure built to standard drawings SW-140-1 or SW-150-1. Where a street has no public improvements or sidewalks and none are required, the approach may be asphalt, built to SW-180-1 or SW-190-1.
Dropped-sidewalk designs (SW-160-1 and SW-170-1) are only allowed where an existing driveway is being rebuilt without the adjacent sidewalk, or where site constraints or topography rule out the other options. That is the clause most likely to apply to a straight removal and replacement, so ask the review engineer early which drawing your apron will be built to.
- Apron: at least 5 feet wide, with a running slope no steeper than 10%.
- The review engineer may allow up to a 1-inch drop in the sidewalk to keep the apron within that 10%.
- The sidewalk continues across the driveway at the same level unless the review engineer approves otherwise, and it must meet ADA standards.
- The landing on your side is limited to a 10% grade for the first 20 feet past the approach, and 15% after that.
Why the design rules matter before the old slab comes out
If your existing apron does not meet those numbers, the replacement has to, and that can move the break-out line, the grade at the top of the driveway and the depth of base needed under the new pour. Settle the replacement design with whoever is pouring the new driveway first, then set the removal to match. Breaking out more than the new layout needs is wasted money. Breaking out less means a second visit.
The same logic applies to the private slab. A driveway coming out for pavers, for a wider pour or to fix settling against the garage each needs a different subgrade at the end, so tell the removal crew what is going back in.
Locates and access before the breaker arrives
Breaking out a slab and regrading under it is digging, and Washington's dig law (RCW 19.122) requires a utility locate request at least two business days before you dig. Dial 811 or request it online. Bellevue's right-of-way FAQ explains the painted lines you may then see on the street: they mark buried utilities, and each color stands for a different type of line.
Plan where the broken concrete goes as it comes out. Bellevue keeps dumpsters off residential streets except for driveways steeper than 15%, and the bin cannot sit on the slab being removed. Loading straight into a truck parked legally on the street, or staging a bin elsewhere on the lot, are the usual answers. Bellevue also says no vehicle may park on a public sidewalk without a right-of-way use permit.
How it works
- 1
Walk the job and confirm thickness, reinforcement and truck access
- 2
Saw-cut the perimeter and any control joints that define the removal area
- 3
Break the slab into pieces sized for the equipment and the access route
- 4
Separate rebar, wire mesh and any embedded steel
- 5
Load out and haul to a concrete recycling facility
- 6
Grade and compact the exposed subgrade, and sweep the street
Concrete Driveway Removal pricing in Bellevue
Custom quote
Priced per square foot once thickness, reinforcement and access are known.
*Indicative only. The price is confirmed in writing before any work starts.
Get a price for BellevueConcrete Driveway Removal in Bellevue: questions
Do I need a permit to replace my driveway in Bellevue?
You do for the apron. Bellevue's right-of-way FAQ says repairing, replacing or establishing a driveway apron needs a right-of-way use permit, and driveway reconstruction is listed under the Residential Right of Way Permit (TG). That permit does not cover work wholly on your lot. Ask the Permit Center (425-452-4898) whether your project triggers anything else, such as clearing and grading.
What is the difference between a driveway approach and an apron?
In Bellevue's design manual, the approach is the whole part of the driveway inside the public right of way and sidewalk easement, from the curb face or roadway to your property line. The apron is one piece of it, running from the gutter flow line to the front of the sidewalk. The side slopes, or wings, are the other piece.
Who pays to fix a cracked driveway apron in Bellevue?
The homeowner. Bellevue maintains most of its sidewalks itself, but its right-of-way FAQ says driveway approaches are not maintained by the Streets Department and that apron repair or replacement is the homeowner's responsibility.
Do I have to call 811 before removing a driveway?
Yes. Washington's dig law, RCW 19.122, requires anyone digging to request a utility locate through 811 at least two business days before starting. The state utilities commission warns that skipping the call can bring monetary penalties and liability for any damage.
For the wider permit and street rules in Bellevue, see our Bellevue area page.
Near Bellevue
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