"who designed this car park & why is there a dead end?" - this is when everyone realises the importance car parking management planS!

Traffic engineering terms are all too similar for a traffic engineering amateur to know the differences. Traffic management plan, traffic impact assessment, parking assessment and parking management plan... all sounds too similar, don't they? If so, what is a Car Parking Management Plan and when is one required?

In the simplest terms, a Car Parking Management Plan devices the strategies and engineering solutions of managing a car park. But what are these strategies? This is often something we take for granted, until there isn't a strategy. Then we start complaining with statements like "who designed this car park?", "why is there a dead end?", "why is it so dark in here?", "why can't I turn my car around?". 

Car Parking Management Plans are required under several different scenarios. One of the most common scenarios is when you have a basement car park providing several car parking spaces. These are also required for shopping centre car parks or any car park design that requires traffic management features to control the flow of traffic and pedestrians. Some of these traffic management treatments are signage, linemarking, lighting, parking bays etc. 

A Car Parking Management Plan typically reviews and presents background documentation including Planning Scheme Clauses and information about the project. Following on, it provides a discussion piece about car parking accessibility and allocation, which presents detailed information about how many spaces are allocated to which part of the development and how these are accessed. For some developments, there is also a section on bicycle parking provisions.

Pedestrian accessibility is a key consideration of a car parking management plan, where DDA compliance and pedestrian connectivity are reviewed in detail and provided with engineering solutions where necessary. RedSquare Traffic further provides a section on security, lighting and access which are essentials of a successful car park design. Access considerations are provided with traffic engineering treatments that ensure each car or person that enters the car park is faced with a logical operational arrangement of the car park that permits easy and safe manoeuvres. There is also a substantial focus on signage and linemarking treatments that are the core of a car parking management plan.

RedSquare Traffic provides technical advice on directional, wayfinding, parking allocation and time limit signage as well as signage to manage access and egress points. Further, advice regarding linemarking treatments are included in the form of pavement arrows, linemarking of standard and DDA car parking bays. Lastly, waste and loading management treatments are taken into considerations where linemarking, signage and access design treatments are provided for waste and loading activities.

All of above is compiled into a formal report inclusive of traffic engineering drawings that indicate signage, linemarking and traffic management features to form a comprehensive Car Parking Management Plan (CPMP). 

Talk to RedSquare Traffic to learn more on 0370366734. 

Relevant items: Traffic Impact Assessments, Traffic and Parking Assessments, Car Park Designs, Parking Demand Assessments.