Commercial Parking Lot Striping
Parking can be a bit of a hassle. Sometimes a struggle, even. Something many drivers take for granted is the striping and markings on the pavement. We’ve gotten so used to it that we often don’t even notice it, unless forced to park in a grassy area for a tailgate or stumble upon the rare all-grey unmarked parking lot, where you need to just guess how close you should park to the car next to you and pray the person parking beside you doesn’t scrape your own vehicle.
Make The Most Of Your Parking Lot
Most parking lots in front of businesses have markings and stripings–it’s essentially a necessity, something customers don’t just expect but assume will be there. It is always good, however, to make sure that the stripings and markings are still clear, that they haven’t faded to the point where it’s hard for a customer who is pulling in or backing out to really figure out the exact spot of the line. A marking should be bright and pop in the side or rearview mirror, squinting should not be necessary. Repainting the stripings and marks in parking lots should be done once every two years in order to preserve the brightness.
Not only is it safer for customers to pull into a space with bright stripes around it, it also makes the following experience, i.e. walking into the business, much better. Anyone who needs to struggle parking their car won’t have as good an attitude going into the establishment as someone who had a quick, easy experience. Also, less car accidents that occur in a parking lot, the more money saved.
Many lots have fairly minimal markings, often just parking spaces and icons to denote the handicap-accessible spots. Sometimes it pays to go beyond the bare minimum. A parking lot that can be easily crowded, or tight when near or at majority capacity, could benefit from directive arrows to allow for a greater flow of traffic to get through the parking lot. This will ensure customers won’t come in from opposite directions and force one of them to back up, and also prevent the possibility of two drivers “battling” for a spot. Drivers, whether they’d admit it or not, enjoy being guided as they drive, to have an arrow point them this way or that way and lead them to a spot. Easy driving is good driving, and direction arrows in a lot makes for easier driving.
Another underutilized marking are those at the entrance and exit of a lot. If it is wide enough, the space cars enter and exit the lot from can be divided into two enter/exit lanes. You’ve seen it before, but perhaps not very often. It is a wonder why it is not implemented more often. Like direction arrows in the lot itself, they help make for an easier driving and parking experience. And, as mentioned, the better that is, the better the in-building experience will be.
The asphalt in a lot is typically sealed to provide proper maintenance every few years, so new stripings and markings are usually done after that. It is always a good idea to reconsider, when that time comes, whether an additional marking here or there would help the driving and parking experience of customers that come into the lot. A more ordered flow of traffic can make for a pleasurable driving experience. To think hard about whether an arrow should go here or an enter/exit lane there can be strongly beneficial. Think of the lot as the journey, and the business as the destination–you would want a safe and comfortable plane ride to the Bahamas, wouldn’t you?
Hiring A Paving Professional
You have many options when hiring a professional paver to mark up a parking lot. Of course, regulations must be met, such as the proper number of handicap spaces, a loading zone space, maybe even a space for a firetruck to fit into. Outside of that, many aesthetic choices can be made, such as the color of the stripes, whether the stripes can glow brighter with special paint, or beads that flash when under headlights. These can be more than just choices made on a whim, too. Considering the exact location of a lot, what surrounds it, how it looks in the sun, in a cloudy day, during winter, during night, can all be taken into consideration when choosing the optimal amount of markings, stripings, and additional aesthetic choices to go for.
Whatever the lot may look like, there are always improvements to be made, and ways to improve it to make for a greater experience for drivers. If you are interested in learning more about parking lot striping or would like to set up an FREE initial consultation, reach out to the experts at Libs Paving Co. today!
