When it comes to commercial businesses, the first interaction any employees, pedestrians, or potential customers will have with your business is with your parking lot. Depending on the size and function of your parking lot, specific considerations must be made to ensure your lot is aesthetically pleasing, safe, and effective for all visitors. At Encore Pavement, an expert concrete company in Wichita, Kansas, our team has extensive experience constructing large-scale, high-use parking lots for our clients and has detailed everything you need to know to ensure your parking lot is functional for heavy everyday use. Learn more below!
Assess Parking Lot Size
Your commercial parking lot’s purpose will undeniably affect several design factors, beginning with size. Because the lot’s size remains dependent upon how many people the facility will be required to accommodate at once, you will need to partner with an experienced paving company well-versed in capacity-based parking code requirements. Specific industries may determine the pavement area’s size requirement by using the facility’s square footage, while others may be based on capacities, such as the number of available seats inside. At Encore Pavement, an expert asphalt paving and concrete company in Wichita, our team can help determine the most suitable dimensions of your parking lot and provide a custom design based on the code-required number of parking stalls for your building.
Evaluate Pavement Thickness
If your business endures high parking lot usage each day, with a significant amount of visitors driving on your pavement, it’s important to evaluate your pavement thickness! Surface thickness depends on the weight endured and the types of vehicles driving on the pavement. If you opt for a minimum pavement thickness design and don’t have the proper base to accommodate the weight of large trucks and vehicles, you risk compromising your pavement and encountering issues early on.
Anticipate Parking Stall Layout
Depending on the number of visitors using your parking lot, the layout of your parking stalls will vary greatly. While traditional rows of parking stalls are usually angled at 90 degrees; however, 45 to 60-degree angles may be used to alleviate the difficult turning radius if the drive lanes are narrow. Parking stalls at a strict 90-degree angle are the optimum layout to achieve the highest car capacity if that is your primary goal. When working with your paving company, discuss any additional considerations that may need to be made when anticipating your parking stall layout, such as ADA-compliant stalls, motorcycle parking, loading ramps, and more.
