It is a big problem to reasonably formulate the control standard for settlements of pavement caused by tunnel construction. To address this problem, this study proposed a complete solution based on strict theoretical deduction, which took the driving comfort control standard as the starting point, and considered both the roughness of existing highway and the morphological characteristics of pavement settlement trough caused by tunnel construction. First, the vertical vibration acceleration was selected as the comfort index. Second, the ideal sinusoidal function was used to depict the longitudinal curve of highway pavement, and the relationship between the characteristic parameters of the existing highway longitudinal curve and the vertical vibration acceleration was revealed by derivation. Third, the Peck formula was applied to describe the morphological characteristics of pavement settlement trough induced by tunneling, and the relationship between the morphological characteristic parameters and the vertical vibration acceleration was obtained by derivation. Fourth, the formula for calculating the maximum vertical vibration acceleration was established by incorporating the overlapping effect of the existing highway roughness and the pavement settlement induced by tunneling. Finally, based on the relationship between the acceleration value and the subjective feeling of human body, the formula for determining the control standard of pavement settlement was proposed. Results show that the driving comfort was directly proportional to the wave length of the existing highway longitudinal curve and inversely proportional to its amplitude; the driving comfort was directly proportional to the width coefficient of the settlement trough and inversely proportional to the maximum settlement value of the pavement at the tunnel center line; and the driving comfort was inversely proportional to the square of the driving speed. Therefore, an effective way to relax the settlement control standard is to reduce the driving speed properly.