How To Design A Business Parking Lot

One of the first things to consider when constructing a business and its parking lot is what size parking lot that you need. If you are a large restaurant with many customers every single day, you need a big lot. You need to make sure your lot is big enough to hold as many people as could eat at the same time plus a few more. Angry guests that can’t find a spot to park are not what you want. Your business suffers as well when it looks too full to stop in. Make sure that your lot is a good size for the number of guests you expect.

It’s also important to think about the flow of your parking lot, building location, and attached roads. This also determines how your striping will look. Don’t always go for maximum number of spots in the lot if your striping suffers. Too small of spaces or poor alignment doesn’t make sense for your lot. Diagonal lanes facing the same direction on either side of a line make no sense in a lot that has one entrance. It causes traffic jams with people going down the wrong side to get out. Also, work on making a parking lot space big enough that there is space to backup and get out your lot safely. While it seems like a great cost saving measure to put a lot of spaces close together, it’s usually not. You end up with a lot of accidents on your hands from people backing into other people.

When you are constructing your parking lot, ADA compliance should be one of the most important things on your mind. The number of spaces that are accessible is based on the total number of parking spaces in the lot. Remember, you also need to have van accessible parking spots. These require an access lane beside them. You are required to follow ADA compliance when you create your parking lot, so you need to plan it accordingly so that ADA compliance is not a nuisance but any easy box to tick off on the list of parking lot requirements.

ADA compliance does not need to be difficult, but it can cause headaches for many people constructing parking lots. It’s important to remember that these spots are to make it easier for all people to reach your business. When you keep this in mind, you realize that these spots are actually a service to your business. If you need help with ADA compliance guidelines, we can help!

Any potholes, crack filling, or other issues should be resolved as soon as possible in your new parking lot. Take these issues seriously and do not ignore them in favor of a “more important’ expense. Your parking lot is the very first thing that people encounter that tells them a bit about your business from the moment that they pull in. If you have a beautiful sealcoated, freshly striped, and clean lot they will get a better impression that one where they hit a pothole on the way in, can’t see the lines to park, and the asphalt is crumbling and worn. Additionally, fixing repairs as soon as possible limits your liability with people possibly falling or getting hurt or damaging their car on potholes or large cracks.

If you need help designing and creating your parking lot, it’s time to give 309 Paving Services a call! We have the experience to help you create a beautiful parking lot for your business that will meet and exceed ADA compliance regulations, provide great flow and spacing, and be a good representation of your business as a whole. Give us a call today and get started!