Asphalt Paving in Highlands, TX

Asphalt paving in Highlands works a little differently than in Baytown next door, because Highlands is not a city. It is a census-designated place in unincorporated Harris County. The town did incorporate in 1930, but the charter was voided, and a second attempt in 1956 failed. So the roads and the right-of-way in front of most homes are county territory, and the county's rules apply when a driveway reaches the street.

What the county requires

Harris County Engineering prohibits building or replacing a driveway, sidewalk or culvert in the public right-of-way without a permit. That includes new driveways and culverts, extending a culvert, widening a driveway, replacing one, and even repairing an existing one. The county defines the right-of-way as the area from your front property line to the centerline of the road, and asks applicants to stake the culvert location in the ditch when they apply. If your project stays behind the property line, none of that applies. If it reaches the ditch, we sort out the permit before that part is scheduled.

River country

Highlands sits on the banks of the San Jacinto River near the Houston Ship Channel, at about 36 feet of elevation, with roughly a quarter of its area in water. Many lots are larger and older than in-town Baytown lots, and the driveway often crosses an open ditch on a culvert pipe. When that pipe rusts out or is crushed, the driveway sinks in a dip that holds water. Fixing it means replacing or resetting the pipe, rebuilding the fill around it and repaving.

Growing steadily

The population went from 7,522 in 2010 to 8,612 in 2020, and most students attend Goose Creek CISD with the Baytown side. Newer homes on the edges of town tend to need sealing and edge support; older homes along Main Street and the streets nearby usually need full replacement.

How a Highlands job runs

We visit, look at the ditch and culvert, and tell you whether your project needs a Harris County permit. If it does, the quote shows the culvert and right-of-way work separately so you can see what it adds. Once the permit is in place, the culvert work is done first, then the driveway base, then the asphalt. Most driveways take a few days of work, plus time for the county process when it applies.

Older homes near Main Street

Highlands had about 3,000 residents and 75 businesses by 1948, and some of the homes from that era and the decades after still have their first-generation driveways or patched-over versions of them. Those drives tend to be thin, with little stone underneath and edges that have broken into the ditch. Rebuilding them properly means removing the old surface, digging out soft clay, laying a compacted base, and shaping the new surface so water leaves it toward the ditch rather than running along it.

Pricing a Highlands driveway

National guides put new asphalt driveways at about $5 to $12 or more per square foot. In Highlands, the items that move the price most are culvert work, how much soft clay has to come out and how far the driveway runs from the road. Those are listed separately on our quote.