Paving & Driveways in Hanson, Massachusetts

Mass Save does not apply to paving — it only covers space and water heating, not driveways or walkways, so don't expect a rebate on this work regardless of who your utility is. Hanson is in Eversource territory (not a municipal light plant), but that distinction is irrelevant to a paving project.

What does matter locally is permitting. Hanson's DPW typically requires a driveway or curb-cut permit before you tie a new or widened driveway into a town road, and any cut into the public way needs a street-opening permit. Because parts of town sit near wetlands and cranberry bog drainage, adding impervious surface can also trigger Conservation Commission review under the Wetlands Protection Act if you're within a buffer zone.

Massachusetts has no statewide paving license, but a residential paving contractor must be registered as a Home Improvement Contractor (HIC), and structural work calls for a Construction Supervisor License. In Hanson, expect to file a driveway or curb-cut permit with the DPW or building department before connecting to a town road; work that opens the public pavement needs a separate street-opening permit. If your project sits within 100 feet of a wetland or bog, the Conservation Commission will likely want to review the added impervious area before you start.

Hanson sits on the South Shore, where labor runs a bit below Boston metro but above central and western Massachusetts. A typical asphalt driveway install here runs roughly $4,500–$12,000 depending on size, whether the old surface is torn out or overlaid, and how much failing sub-base needs rebuilding. Sealcoating a standard driveway is usually $250–$700. Concrete runs higher, around $8–$18 per square foot, and permeable pavers cost more still. Sandy sub-soil, slope, and drainage fixes are the main things that move a Hanson quote up or down.

Hanson is a small Plymouth County town of about 10,619 people across roughly 4,143 housing units, with homes averaging around 54 years old. That puts a lot of the local stock in the 1960s–70s subdivision era, when asphalt driveways went in over sandy, gravelly South Shore soils.

Many of those original driveways are now at or past the end of their service life. The most common paving jobs here are full asphalt tear-out and replacement, regrading driveways that have settled or pitched water toward the house, and rebuilding the apron where the drive meets Hanson's town roads.