It is essential to have careful parking markings and signage, whether you are setting up a private or public parking lot, for a condo or a business, in a covered or outdoor space. Only a quality marking is easily understood and respected by all users, who can thus coexist in complete safety.
Marking of parking lines has an important impact on user safety: quality marking clearly delimits parking areas, encourages compliance with the Highway Traffic Act and facilitates traffic flow. With well-marked parking areas, location boundaries are better respected, users are less likely to intrude into the neighbour’s area, which is a real problem, particularly with regard to spaces adapted for people with reduced mobility.
Parking spaces that are properly marked are visible, legible, homogeneous and contribute to an optimal travel rate. Traffic is fluid and is carried out in a calm and safe environment, both for motorists and motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
In indoor car parks, horizontal marking must be accompanied by vertical signage on walls and posts, indicating traffic flows.
To obtain a quality marking, the marking solution must be assessed according to the type of soil to be marked. There are currently two marking solutions for the ground.
More affordable and more common than resin, floor paint is easily identified by users. Its light colour contrasts well with the asphalt, making it highly visible to motorists and people with visual impairment, regardless of the ambient light conditions. For bitumen floors, specially formulated solvent-free paints are available on the market. They perfectly adhere to asphalt, macadam and concrete. However, floor paint has the disadvantage of getting dirty quickly during vehicle traffic, leaving tire and gasoline traces. Therefore, it requires regular cleaning to remain visible and legible. For outdoor parking lots used at night, there are reflective paints containing glass beads designed to reflect more light.
More expensive than floor paint, resin makes it possible to vary the colour and is resistant to multiple vehicle traffic as well as rain, sun and extreme cold. It is therefore particularly recommended for marking outdoor parking areas. Over time, the aggregates of the resin dissociate from the binder, underlining the need for renewed marking.
Whether using paint or resin, a glossy finish helps to increase the visibility of the marking and the addition of granulite provides better adhesion of the coating, which otherwise is slippery in wet weather.
Maintenance-free, both the paint and the resin resist time and last for several years. The simple application of a new coat on the old coating ensures an impeccable finish, allowing visibility and legibility as on a new marking.
It is essential that a parking marking be of high quality in order to be respected and safe for all users. For outdoor car parks that do not allow vertical marking, the ground marking must be supplemented by vertical traffic signs to ensure optimal safety for all.
