Fire Lane and ADA Striping

When your parking lot needs to be compliant with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Standards of Accessible Design, there are a few things to keep in mind. To begin with, when you need to provide spaces for parking, you have an immediate obligation to remove any barriers to accessibility that may exist in your facility of parking. It is relatively inexpensive to do ADA striping and thus, quite achievable. Here are a few tips to ensure you get it right the first time.

Tip #1: Know Your Number

In each garage or parking lot, the minimum number of spaces accessible is based on the provided number of parking spaces. In every six spaces that are accessible, at least one needs to be accessible by van.

It is always a good idea to perform routine maintenance and repaint your parking lot every one to three years. Signage and striping is required and you need to meet the fire code and striping regulations of ADA.

Tip#1: Follow Your Own State's Parking Requirements

Restrictions of parking according to ADA requirements are mandated by the state. In other words, you will need to inquire about the ADA requirements that are specific to your own state. On the other hand, poorly marked No Parking Areas are a universal issue. Also, many drivers are aware and still decide to illegally park. State laws restrict parking areas for the purpose of public safety. After all, emergency personnel never wants to deal with limited access due to parking illegally.

Tip#3: Fire Lane Signs

If you own a building or a business, ADA requires that you display signs that indicate a fire lane in order to maintain a lane designated for first responders or fire trucks that they can use during a situation of emergency. These types of urgent situations can include fire extinguishing or even another type of emergency.

A fire lane that has a no parking sign indicates that all drivers and patrons of your business must not park in an area designated as a Fire Lane. In addition, in times when parking is not easy to come by, none of the cars ought to park blocking these fire lanes, as they must be kept free at all time. Often, these types of signage are also a requirement by your local government to ensure the protection and compliance of every public establishment.

Tip#4 Striping Your Spaces

When striping your parking spaces, you need to provide ADA-required parking space access. This means there must be a removal of every barrier that barricades access to existing parking lots. It is stipulated by ADA that parking spaces that lead to a specific building needs to be built in the shortest route accessible from the parking point until the entrance.

Tip#5 Size Matters

When striping your parking lot, size does matter. ADA has size specifications that you need to follow. For example, accessible parking spaces need to be a minimum of eight feet wide and should have an access aisle adjacent to this. When it comes to parking spaces for vans, an eight-foot adjacent aisle is required. If striping spaces for cars, there needs to be a five-foot wide access aisle adjacently placed to the parking space. Use the highest quality paint to assure the brightest lines possible.

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