Parking Lots

[jeffandnicole]

What do the different colors signify? On a highway the striping has very clear meaning (one or two directional) but what does it mean for parking lots?

Technically, there is no required colors for parking spaces. Not even blue is required for handicap spots. The only requirement is that handicapped parking lines have to be a different color than the rest of the lines.

Is that a new requirement or an NJ-thing? I have definitely seen more than a few handicap stalls with blue striping, but they pale in comparison to the number of stalls with white striping.

So I decided to look it up.  The MUTCD does state that blue shall be used for persons with disabilities...however that appears to be on the actual road, or alongside travel lanes (ie: parallel parking spots).  Parking lots themselves are supposed to follow the MUTCD, and the planning boards will probably require such design, but are otherwise undefined.

That all said, blue is the universal color for handicap spots.  For regular parking spots, white and yellow are almost always used.  I can't find any definition as to why some parking lots lines are yellow, some are white, and some have a mixture.  I have seen cases where smaller spots are a different color than larger spots (ie: https://goo.gl/maps/1Kc7KzkKzMQ2 . In another Walmart example: https://goo.gl/maps/3jdJZrKqVu42 , there's a limited number of yellow spots vs. white spots, they're the same size, and the line color for the other stores is white as well.  As you can see, no one is parked in them, and it'll be unreasonable to ask employees to park so far away.

https://preview.ibb.co/i5ckKx/walmart_winterville.png

And this to me seems like terrible traffic planning: Why intentionally funnel nearly all entering traffic directly to the point where pedestrians need to cross to enter the store?

Wouldn't it make more sense to direct traffic in a different way to reduce the vehicle/pedestrian conflict?

Poor planning in general. There are several default layouts for Walmarts, and I would guess this design was chosen before pedestrian and vehicle conflicts were considered. The easiest way to rectify the situation would be to place the entrance to the parking lot somewhere other than where it is, but that's a lot easier said than done. And I also suspect that the access location as-is was chosen perhaps by the city, and not Walmart.

I think this is usually what happens.  Access needs to be a certain distance away from existing intersections and other features.  Most parking lots I'm familiar with try to keep access - at least the main access point - away from the front of the store.  Sometimes it's not feasible though.

[RobbieL2415]

I like the size of the Disney World parking lots.  Literally acres of asphalt.

[LM117]

Parking lots?  Ok, here you go.



oh wait...

Looks like Piney Forest Road (US-29 Business) in Danville, except we have a suicide lane from hell, which makes it twice the fun.

[jakeroot]

What do the different colors signify? On a highway the striping has very clear meaning (one or two directional) but what does it mean for parking lots?

Technically, there is no required colors for parking spaces. Not even blue is required for handicap spots. The only requirement is that handicapped parking lines have to be a different color than the rest of the lines.

Is that a new requirement or an NJ-thing? I have definitely seen more than a few handicap stalls with blue striping, but they pale in comparison to the number of stalls with white striping.

So I decided to look it up.  The MUTCD does state that blue shall be used for persons with disabilities...however that appears to be on the actual road, or alongside travel lanes (ie: parallel parking spots).  Parking lots themselves are supposed to follow the MUTCD, and the planning boards will probably require such design, but are otherwise undefined.

That all said, blue is the universal color for handicap spots.  For regular parking spots, white and yellow are almost always used.  I can't find any definition as to why some parking lots lines are yellow, some are white, and some have a mixture.  I have seen cases where smaller spots are a different color than larger spots (ie: https://goo.gl/maps/1Kc7KzkKzMQ2 . In another Walmart example: https://goo.gl/maps/3jdJZrKqVu42 , there's a limited number of yellow spots vs. white spots, they're the same size, and the line color for the other stores is white as well.  As you can see, no one is parked in them, and it'll be unreasonable to ask employees to park so far away.

All handicap stalls on the road that I've seen (not too common in Seattle, it seems) have had blue striping, so that makes sense.

I think the popularity of yellow striping has to do with this common misconception among non-road-enthusiasts that yellow is the most visible color when applied to pavement (or at least the color with most contrast). AFAIK, white is actually the best color because it's the most reflective.

[DaBigE]

What do the different colors signify? On a highway the striping has very clear meaning (one or two directional) but what does it mean for parking lots?

Technically, there is no required colors for parking spaces. Not even blue is required for handicap spots. The only requirement is that handicapped parking lines have to be a different color than the rest of the lines.

Is that a new requirement or an NJ-thing? I have definitely seen more than a few handicap stalls with blue striping, but they pale in comparison to the number of stalls with white striping.

So I decided to look it up.  The MUTCD does state that blue shall be used for persons with disabilities...however that appears to be on the actual road, or alongside travel lanes (ie: parallel parking spots).  Parking lots themselves are supposed to follow the MUTCD, and the planning boards will probably require such design, but are otherwise undefined.

That all said, blue is the universal color for handicap spots.  For regular parking spots, white and yellow are almost always used.  I can't find any definition as to why some parking lots lines are yellow, some are white, and some have a mixture.  I have seen cases where smaller spots are a different color than larger spots (ie: https://goo.gl/maps/1Kc7KzkKzMQ2 . In another Walmart example: https://goo.gl/maps/3jdJZrKqVu42 , there's a limited number of yellow spots vs. white spots, they're the same size, and the line color for the other stores is white as well.  As you can see, no one is parked in them, and it'll be unreasonable to ask employees to park so far away.

All handicap stalls on the road that I've seen (not too common in Seattle, it seems) have had blue striping, so that makes sense.

I think the popularity of yellow striping has to do with this common misconception among non-road-enthusiasts that yellow is the most visible color when applied to pavement (or at least the color with most contrast). AFAIK, white is actually the best color because it's the most reflective.

"Most visible" depends on a lot of factors...pavement material, pavement age, and the type of marking material. Most parking lots (at least of those I've seen) are not painted with reflective paint. Black and yellow has the best contrast according to the studies I've seen. But, that also depends on the age of the asphalt and whether or not it gets resealed on a regular basis. If the parking lot happens to be concrete, yellow has the best contrast.

At one time I had heard yellow paint could be placed faster (white tended to be absorbed more by the asphalt, so you had to wait longer for the asphalt to harden). Not sure how true that rumor was.

[CtrlAltDel]

I like the size of the Disney World parking lots.  Literally acres of asphalt.

Multi-acre parking lots aren't especially rare, though. This relatively normal-looking one outside Chicago is about 5:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8725029,-87.9623283,386m/data=!3m1!1e3

[RobbieL2415]

I like the size of the Disney World parking lots.  Literally acres of asphalt.

Multi-acre parking lots aren't especially rare, though. This relatively normal-looking one outside Chicago is about 5:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8725029,-87.9623283,386m/data=!3m1!1e3

Sure but not multiple multi-acre parking lots that service millions of cars a year.

[roadfro]

What do the different colors signify? On a highway the striping has very clear meaning (one or two directional) but what does it mean for parking lots?

Technically, there is no required colors for parking spaces. Not even blue is required for handicap spots. The only requirement is that handicapped parking lines have to be a different color than the rest of the lines.

Is that a new requirement or an NJ-thing? I have definitely seen more than a few handicap stalls with blue striping, but they pale in comparison to the number of stalls with white striping.

So I decided to look it up.  The MUTCD does state that blue shall be used for persons with disabilities...however that appears to be on the actual road, or alongside travel lanes (ie: parallel parking spots).  Parking lots themselves are supposed to follow the MUTCD, and the planning boards will probably require such design, but are otherwise undefined.

That all said, blue is the universal color for handicap spots.  For regular parking spots, white and yellow are almost always used.  I can't find any definition as to why some parking lots lines are yellow, some are white, and some have a mixture.  I have seen cases where smaller spots are a different color than larger spots (ie: https://goo.gl/maps/1Kc7KzkKzMQ2 . In another Walmart example: https://goo.gl/maps/3jdJZrKqVu42 , there's a limited number of yellow spots vs. white spots, they're the same size, and the line color for the other stores is white as well.  As you can see, no one is parked in them, and it'll be unreasonable to ask employees to park so far away.

Technically, according to the MUTCD, all parking space markings are supposed to be white.

Blue *may* be used to supplement white markings for ADA parking spaces, and is to be used in the accessibility symbol of an ADA parking space. This is the only approved use of the blue pavement marking color in the MUTCD (an allowance is made for blue and other colors where colored route shields are used on pavement).

[jeffandnicole]

What do the different colors signify? On a highway the striping has very clear meaning (one or two directional) but what does it mean for parking lots?

Technically, there is no required colors for parking spaces. Not even blue is required for handicap spots. The only requirement is that handicapped parking lines have to be a different color than the rest of the lines.

Is that a new requirement or an NJ-thing? I have definitely seen more than a few handicap stalls with blue striping, but they pale in comparison to the number of stalls with white striping.

So I decided to look it up.  The MUTCD does state that blue shall be used for persons with disabilities...however that appears to be on the actual road, or alongside travel lanes (ie: parallel parking spots).  Parking lots themselves are supposed to follow the MUTCD, and the planning boards will probably require such design, but are otherwise undefined.

That all said, blue is the universal color for handicap spots.  For regular parking spots, white and yellow are almost always used.  I can't find any definition as to why some parking lots lines are yellow, some are white, and some have a mixture.  I have seen cases where smaller spots are a different color than larger spots (ie: https://goo.gl/maps/1Kc7KzkKzMQ2 . In another Walmart example: https://goo.gl/maps/3jdJZrKqVu42 , there's a limited number of yellow spots vs. white spots, they're the same size, and the line color for the other stores is white as well.  As you can see, no one is parked in them, and it'll be unreasonable to ask employees to park so far away.

Technically, according to the MUTCD, all parking space markings are supposed to be white.

Blue *may* be used to supplement white markings for ADA parking spaces, and is to be used in the accessibility symbol of an ADA parking space. This is the only approved use of the blue pavement marking color in the MUTCD (an allowance is made for blue and other colors where colored route shields are used on pavement).

The MUTCD states white lines are to be used to mark parking spots...on roads. The MUTCD doesn't specify parking lots colors.

[ET21]

I like the size of the Disney World parking lots.  Literally acres of asphalt.

Multi-acre parking lots aren't especially rare, though. This relatively normal-looking one outside Chicago is about 5:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8725029,-87.9623283,386m/data=!3m1!1e3

Sure but not multiple multi-acre parking lots that service millions of cars a year.

Probably a better one: Six Flags in north suburban Gurnee https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3717638,-87.9376211,709m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1
Comiskey Park (NOT G-RATE): https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8286912,-87.6333172,1597m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1