White Lines - Do Do It

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30 September 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

Stephen Scott describes the best way to set-out your new carpark or road network.

You have a car park or private road network that needs marking to ensure safe and efficient use by clients, staff and visitors and don’t know where to start?

This article is designed to help you with some important decisions and point you towards other documents that will assist.

If your site is privately owned and does not form part of a public right of way then, in theory, you can design your signs and markings to any layout and colour scheme you want. Parking Bays in pink and traffic signs to match your corporate colours are all very well but will your visitors understand what they are being instructed to do if the signs and markings are not familiar to them?

You could adopt standard regulation signs and markings as used on the public highway because they will be well known to most drivers and more likely to be obeyed especially if they think there might be some enforcement risks for ignoring them. Double yellow lines are a well-known indicator that parking is not encouraged and clear well marked arrows indicate a route to be followed. If you have an area that needs to be kept clear of parked cars for emergency vehicles then a yellow cross-hatched box with the words ‘FIRE ACCESS – KEEP CLEAR’ will deter all but the most determined.

Vehicle and pedestrian segregation

Pedestrian crossings and walkways help to separate people from moving vehicles and can prove your commitment to safety on site. The incorporation of anti-slip or anti-skid aggregates can improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles when wet or icy conditions prevail and are considered, in most cases, a visible example of your Duty of Care to visitors.

It is important to consider the sizes and manoeuvrability of the vehicles that will use your site. Cars are generally larger than they used to be and parking spaces designed for older and often smaller models may mean difficulties for drivers getting out of, and into, newer and larger vehicles. The width of lanes between rows of parking bays should enable safe and easy manoeuvring; too tight and you could be responsible for some dented doors!

If you do want the corporate identity to be displayed on the ground then reproductions of your company logo can be produced in hard wearing materials in any colour scheme. Lettering and numbering can be used to allocate parking bays to groups of people or individuals as you choose and variations in colour can help distinguish different areas for different uses. Please use the link below to a Department for Transport approved document on the design and layout of signs and lines.

Useful link to Department for Transport Guidance on signs and lines layout.

By Stephen Scott, Managing Director of Wilson and Scott (Highways) Ltd

Article written by Stephen Scott | Published 30 September 2016

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