Manchester Township covers a large piece of central Ocean County, from the pine forests around Whiting to the neighborhoods off Route 37 near Toms River. Dan The Paver installs asphalt driveways for Manchester homeowners and repaves asphalt parking lots for the township’s adult communities, churches and businesses. Manchester sits inside our Ocean County coverage, which runs from Toms River north.
Adult communities and pine-wooded lots
Manchester is home to many active adult communities, especially around Whiting, where developments such as Crestwood Village have rows of single-story homes with short, single-car driveways. These communities often have private roads, shared parking areas and clubhouse lots maintained by an association.
Outside those developments, Manchester feels rural. Neighborhoods like Pine Lake Park and Ridgeway, and homes along Route 70, Route 571 and Route 539, sit on wooded lots with longer drives. Some properties back onto preserved Pinelands or the lands around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Driveways here can be long, winding and shaded, with tree roots and pine needles to manage.
Pinelands sand: drains fast, shifts easily
Manchester sits deep in the Pine Barrens, where the soil is sand that drains almost instantly. The upside is that water rarely ponds for long. The downside is that loose sand offers little support and erodes along unprotected edges. Good base work is the difference between a driveway that lasts and one that crumbles at the sides.
On Manchester jobs we remove the old surface and root mat, compact the sand, place a dense-graded aggregate base in lifts and roll it firm before paving. We grade the drive so rainfall runs off the edges without cutting into them. Low pockets near streams and cedar swamps are the exception, and we check for wet ground before we price the work.
Parking for communities and congregations
Clubhouses, community centers, churches, medical offices and the shops along Route 37 and Route 70 all need lots that are smooth, drain properly and are easy for older drivers and pedestrians to navigate. We plan repaving in sections, keep accessible routes open where possible, and use milling and repaving to stretch the life of lots that are not ready for full replacement.
Permit note
Driveway aprons, new curb cuts and added paved area may need township approval. Check with the Manchester Township construction or zoning office, and with your HOA if you live in a managed community.
We also serve Toms River and Jackson. See every town on our Ocean County paving page.
Manchester paving questions
I live in one of Manchester's adult communities. Can I hire you for my own driveway, or does the association handle it?
That depends on your community's rules. In some Manchester adult communities, such as those in the Whiting area, the association maintains driveways; in others, each owner is responsible. Check your association documents first. We are glad to work either with an individual owner who has approval or with the board for a community-wide project.
My Manchester driveway gets soft and rutted at the edges. Why?
Manchester's Pinelands soil is very sandy, and when a driveway has no firm edge, the sand underneath slowly washes or squeezes out. The asphalt then cracks and breaks along the sides. When we rebuild, we compact the base wider than the finished asphalt and shape the shoulders so the edges stay supported.
