Sorry - SGMC has very pointed, backward facing thorns - the kind that snag you and don't let go - not good for a driveway.It gets very big in my climate (Sacramento.

Another possibility nobody mentioned is Prosperity. We have it in the cemetery - I know it has some thorns but I don't think a lot, and it blooms well and is fragrant.
Anita

How much room is there between the garage wall and the walkway?
If you espalier "Prosperity" so that it lies close to the garage and only c. 3 and 1/2 feet outwards from the wall, it should reduce the problem of snags.
I've espaliered another Hybrid Musk so that it is 7 feet tall by 8 feet wide, but only 3 feet from front to back, with good success, so that a freind of mine can hang his laundry on a line right in front of it without getting prickled.
The "Prosperity" in our garden was wonderfully fragrant.
Luxrosa

Prosperity is one of the most fragrant hybrid musk roses I've come across. It wafts for a long ways from the bush. There is a wonderful example of this plant at the Gardens of the American Rose Society in Shreveport, LA.

I walk by SGMC all the time, several times a day, no problem. There are not that many prickles on the canes, less than 'Sombreuil', that's for sure! The prickles on SGMC that are annoying are the ones on the backs of the leaf stems, which hook onto you pretty good when you are pruning the beastie. Still, I keep it for the wonderful clove fragrance, sweet, spiced, strong.

I don't have long personal experience with roses, so it's not easy for me to say what constitutes "average" or above/below that rate of thorns. I do have Prosperity, though, and I'm guessing that it has average rates of thorns--nothing I'd personally want to have to walk next to as the plant gets larger and more difficult to give a wide berth to. Ours is still in the pot right now, and its thorns are going to be a strong consideration in placing its planting spot in the yard. But there might well be a lower-thorns cultivar of Prosperity somewhere that's different from mine.

One thing I've found is that for old roses, it's quite easy to find plants that are distinctly different in terms of things like fragrance and thorns, depending on which nursery you buy it from. While most Cornelias in Europe and Australia are evidently very low in thorns and you can find that description in rose books, you have to do some looking and checking to make sure of getting a low-thorned Cornelia cultivar here. (Guess how I know that?)

Climbing Iceberg might be a contender for your spot. There are apparently multiple cultivars of this one available, some of which are thornless or very low in thorns, but plenty that aren't too. (And the same thing holds true for fragrance.) But several people in this country have posted that their version is nearly thornless, so that cultivar is likely available somewhere here, if you spend some time checking on it with potential nursery choices for buying it.

Best wishes,
Mary

P.S. Guess who just ordered some Icebergs a couple of days ago but forgot to ask first as to the Iceberg cultivar's thorninesss??? :(

Pat Henry, at Roses Unlimited in South Carolina, grows SGM near the drive way. Hers has been there for years and I fall in love each time I have had the opportunity to see it. I think the amount of space you have matters more than that is near the driveway. You might call Pat and inquire about the size of this rose when mature and if hers caused any problems.

Ronda

Keep in mind that here, in the BS Mid-Atlantic, SGMC is going to need serious chemical support to make it. I try to grow it no-spray, and it's a disaster. I really like White Cap for a white climber.

Robert

I am with Robert. SGM here is seriously BS prone similar to Iceberg, which was always the first to defoliate in my garden.
Olga

Thanks, everyone. I think SGM is out. So now I'm looking at some of the smaller noisettes: perhaps Jeanne d Arc, Nastarana or Princess de Nassau. And I will check with Pat at Roses Unlimited. She has always given excellent advice in the past.

Jeanne d'Arc, Princesse de Nassau and my namesake are none of them climbers. La Princesse throws out some long arching canes and could maybe be trained to climb.

For your spot I would look at Lamarque, the shorter Texas "Thomasville Lamarque" cultivar. I believe the "California Lamarque" is the one which can tear down your house.

There is now a repeat blooming banksia, Purezza. I have not grown it, so can't say much about it.

You might want to browse through the list of Large Flowered Climbers, many of which are the the New Dawn descendents unavailable anywhere else, at the Vintage Gardens website.