Laying Out A Parking Lot
Parking lots may seem simple, little more than asphalt paving and striping, but are actually surprisingly complicated. We’ve all been in poorly laid out parking lots, they’re something you just know when you see, but rarely stop to think about what indicates a well-made parking lot. If you’re wondering what you should consider before choosing your parking orientation, then read on.
Anticipating Future Parking Needs
The Struggles
Before we can explain what actually goes into laying out a parking lot, we must first explain the struggles associated with planning a parking lot. Chiefly, parking lots are considered afterthoughts by most builders and investors alike; this is exactly why we have so many downtown areas scrambling for parking solutions that could have been implemented already years ago and at far less expense. The real issue is that nobody knows for certain what the future will hold for a given business, residential area, or even office building. While it may be easy to look at construction plans and make a slightly generous assumption, that could lead to far too much parking, which is essentially a waste of money, or, just as easily, not nearly enough parking to support future growth.
Start Simple
The best parking lots are that way because of their simplicity. Maximizing space while minimizing bottlenecks and chokepoints for drivers to get caught in is a fantastic start. For this, you’ll need to take advantage of the almighty rectangle; this perfectly crafted shape is ideal for parking lot orientation. In fact, rectangles are so useful in parking, that within the space created by asphalt paving, you’ll actually carve up numerous smaller rectangles. These rectangles, ideally, are comprised of rows of parallel parking stalls flanking an aisle for cars to access.
Straight vs Angled
More and more, angled parking spaces are becoming popular. The angled version of a parking lot provides a number of benefits, especially to retail businesses, for the following reason:
- Easy access – Angled parking spaces are, by nature, easy to access from one direction and difficult to access from the other. If your drivers are all headed a single direction, then the benefit is obvious.
- Finding your car – Have you ever noticed that it’s actually easier to find your car in angled parking lots? If so, that is simply because more cars are visible when looking at an angle upon a contrasting angled row. This means that if the exit to your store is flanked by two rows of angled parking spots, each car is more visible and less blocked than it would be with standard grid parking.
- The one-way – By having angled parking, you naturally create a one-way street in each parking lane. Not only does this allow for thinner spaces between decks of parking, but it also creates a smoother flow of traffic in and out of the parking lot, thereby increasing time and driver safety.
Standard parking has benefits as well, though not as numerous for locations with high amounts of driver traffic; these include:
- Open space – By nature, standard parking lots take up more space. If your parking lot has extra space to afford two-way traffic in each lane of parking, then your drivers will be able to choose either side to park their vehicles in, coming from either direction.
- Increased caution – Standard parking spaces often lead to more traffic interactions, which increases driver caution and awareness. This is a double-edged sword of potential danger that could be helpful or harmful, depending largely on the nature of the parking.
Get The Experts
There is a lot more that goes into parking than simply leaving one’s car outside of a building; if you’re concerned the the orientation of your parking lot isn’t exactly as you’d like it, then be sure to contact the asphalt paving experts at American Sealcoating in Bridgeview, Chicago-land’s parking lot experts.