Parking Garage or Parking Lot Design

- Identifying Problem Areas

When designing the layout of a parking facility, whether it be a garage or a parking lot, there are always several areas that require special concern for both pedestrian and vehicle safety. So how do you determine where problematic areas are? And once you’ve done that, how do you resolve the concerns.

Let’s take a look:

Building Entrances: One of the most traveled areas of any location is right in front of the building. Pedestrians are obviously walking in and out of the building, to and from vehicles. And, much of the vehicle traffic entering the facility will try to find the closest parking. So it only makes sense to drive to the front, and search from there.

This commotion has the potential for disaster. So how do you resolve this? The addition of stop signs could help. Many locations also offer a striped area painted on the asphalt surface to draw drivers attention and make them more aware of their surroundings. Another recommendation would be the installation of speed bumps or speed humps to the area. This is a physical barrier that the driver must cross in order to drive in front of the building. This hump forces them to slow down and take notice to their surroundings. That includes pedestrians, other vehicles and the layout of the parking facility.

Exit/Entry Intersections: Of course without an entry point, nobody could get into the parking facility. Consider that every vehicle passes through this intersection at least twice (depending upon how many entrance points there are in your facility. Keeping that in mind, this is an area that requires the most control and/or limitation.

These areas are typically close to a main road or highway and can make a smooth transition from the parking area onto the road, or it could be a point of contention for drivers. How you plan to control the traffic can make a difference. Use of stop signs is pretty standard at a location such as this. However many drivers ignore these and roll through them. Again, adding a speed bump or speed hump to a location such as this is a physical barrier that can’t be ignored. Using a speed hump is probably the most recommended in this type of situation. Speed bumps may be a bit too aggressive for these areas. Traffic may slow to the point of actually backing up. However a speed hump is designed to slow traffic, but keep the flow moving. This is the perfect addition to this type of heavily traveled intersection.

Long Straight-Stretches: Any area that offers a little distance is bound to temp drivers to speed up. This can be dangerous because these areas are usually in between parked vehicles. Pedestrians are walking to their vehicles, drivers are backing out of spaces, and it can be dangerous to pick up even a little speed. Installing speed bumps will control traffic to about 5mph. This will help to deter anxious drivers from going quite so fast, and potentially avoid accidents.

All things considered, a parking area can be a pretty dangerous place with accidents just waiting to happen. Use these tips to help spot problem areas. And, add traffic control devices such as parking curbs, speed bumps and speed humps to help avoid situations that could cause harm.