TxDOT Form 2534 is the traffic engineering study checklist you submit when you want to build or modify a commercial, multi-residential, or industrial driveway on a Texas state highway. You complete it, attach a site plan and aerial photograph, and file it with the TxDOT Maintenance Office covering the project location. The form estimates how many vehicles the development will generate and tells TxDOT whether your access request can be approved as-is or needs a fuller traffic study. There is no filing fee, and the form itself does not require a professional engineer’s seal.
When You Need to File Form 2534
The form applies to proposed commercial, multi-residential, and industrial driveways expected to generate 20 or more vehicles per day during the highest peak period. A single-family home or a small rural use drawing fewer than 20 daily vehicles does not need Form 2534 at all.
Once you’re above that threshold, the peak-hour trip count you report drives how much additional work TxDOT will expect:
- 20 vehicles per day through 49 per peak hour: Form 2534 alone is typically sufficient, and no separate traffic study is recommended.
- 50 to 99 trips in the highest peak hour: a Minor Traffic Engineering Study is recommended, usually a 3 to 7 page technical memorandum plus appendices, signed and sealed by a Texas-licensed Professional Engineer.
- 100 or more trips in the highest peak hour: a full Traffic Impact Analysis is recommended, following Chapter 16 of TxDOT’s Transportation Systems Analysis and Planning Manual.
These ranges are guidelines. Each TxDOT district can require more or less analysis based on local conditions, the type of traffic generator, or any safety concern the district flags.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull these together first. Missing any one will stall the review.
- The latest edition of the ITE Trip Generation Manual. TxDOT treats it as the standard source for daily and peak-hour trip estimates. You need the ITE land use code that matches your project and the trip rate for the project’s size.
- A site plan showing driveway widths, driveway radii, access connection spacing, and the posted speed limit on the adjacent roadway.
- An aerial photograph of the property and surrounding roadway network.
- The current Average Daily Traffic (ADT) for the adjacent state highway. TxDOT’s Statewide Planning Map and STARS II database are the suggested tools.
- A check of TxDOT’s Project Tracker for scheduled state highway work near your site, plus any known local government road projects in the area.
How to Fill Out the Form Section by Section
Work through the blocks in order. Each section feeds the next.
Project and Contact Information
Enter the date, project name, and tracking number if TxDOT has already assigned one. Add the property address or location description, the TxDOT district, county, highway name, and a brief description of the project. Fill in the property owner’s name, address, email, and phone. If someone else is handling the application, that person’s name, firm, and contact details go in the applicant or representative fields.
Trip Generation Data
This is the heart of the form. You’ll fill three rows: proposed development trips, existing development trips (only if the site is already operational), and net development trips (the difference between the two). For each row, enter AM peak-hour trips (entering, exiting, and total), PM peak-hour trips (entering, exiting, and total), daily trips, the ITE land use code, and the development size.
The form itself includes a reference table listing common land use categories and the approximate project sizes that generate 50 and 100 peak-hour trips. Examples include ITE code 934 (fast-food restaurant with drive-through), code 710 (general office building), code 945 (gas station with convenience store), and code 150 (warehousing). Treat these as quick benchmarks. Calculate your actual trips from the ITE Trip Generation Manual.
Build-Out Year, Growth Rate, and Adjustments
Enter the full build-out year, meaning the year by which construction will be finished and the development substantially occupied. Provide the annual traffic growth rate you used and explain your methodology, whether that’s historical counts, regional planning data, or another basis. If you applied an adjustment factor to the raw ITE rates for pass-by trips, internal capture, or a similar reason, state the factor and explain how you derived it. If no adjustment is needed, mark “No.”
Phased Developments
If the project will be built in phases, mark “Yes” and describe how the phases break down: which buildings or uses open first, and what the trip generation looks like at each stage. If the whole development opens at once, mark “No.”
Site Access
Confirm that the aerial and site plan are attached. State the number of access connections you are proposing and the type of access for each (full access, right-in/right-out, or another configuration). Record the ADT for the adjacent roadway.
Planned Roadway Improvements
Confirm you reviewed TxDOT’s Project Tracker and checked for non-TxDOT planned projects. List all known local and state roadway improvements that could affect traffic patterns near your site.
Where and How to Submit
Send the completed form, site plan, and aerial map to the TxDOT Maintenance Office that covers your project’s location. The Maintenance Office routes it to the appropriate section for review. Contact your local TxDOT district office first to confirm the correct Maintenance Office and its preferred submission method. Most districts accept PDF submissions by email, and some have specific formatting rules for attachment size and email subject lines, so ask before you send.
TxDOT charges no fee to process a driveway permit application or review Form 2534.
What TxDOT Does With Your Submission
Staff review the form to decide whether your trip generation numbers support the access you requested. The outcome falls into one of three paths.
- Approved without further study. If the numbers are below 50 peak-hour trips and no safety concerns are flagged, the approved Form 2534 becomes your traffic documentation and you can move forward with the driveway permit application.
- Minor Traffic Engineering Study requested. Between 50 and 99 peak-hour trips, TxDOT will likely ask for a technical memorandum covering trip generation, trip distribution, sight distance and turn-lane analysis, and sometimes signal warrants or capacity analysis. A Texas-licensed PE seals it, and the approved Form 2534 goes in the appendix.
- Traffic Impact Analysis requested. At 100 or more peak-hour trips, expect a full TIA. TxDOT will hold an initial coordination meeting to set the study limits, required intersections, and level of detail before you begin.
Districts can adjust these outcomes: requesting a study when trips are low but the location raises safety concerns, or waiving one when circumstances justify it.
Form 2534 Is Not the Construction Permit
Form 2534 is the traffic screening step. The permit to actually build the driveway is Form 1058, Permit to Construct Access Driveway Facilities on Highway Right of Way. You file 1058 with the local district TxDOT office, and it must describe the proposed work, name the applicant, and identify the driveway location. Only the property owner or an authorized representative can apply, and only for the genuine purpose of gaining or modifying access to the property.
No construction on the highway right of way may begin until you hold a fully executed Form 1058 and have given TxDOT at least 24 hours’ notice. A TxDOT inspector reviews the finished driveway, and it isn’t an authorized installation until that inspection is satisfactory.