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Reasons to Design Pavement Marking Stencils

January 11, 2018

Pavement markings communicate to both drivers and pedestrians. Government, businesses and other organizations invest in pavement marking stencils when they need extensive markings with the same design painted onto the ground. Here are some of the many reasons to use and save these stencils.

Where Pavement Markings are Common

  • parking lots (striping for parking stalls)
  • streets (double yellow lines, speed limit, stop/yield)
  • pedestrian walkways
  • roads with speed bumps
  • near railroad crossings
  • areas where safety is emphasized (schools, hospitals)
  • handicap parking slots

Sending a Strong Message

The main reason to use pavement markings is to create an orderly traffic environment. Not only do the markings provide clarity and prevent danger, they can inform people about their destination with arrows. Words or symbols on pavement can be seen at a close distance when large letters or numbers visibly stand out. The larger the font, the louder the message, especially if it involves safety.

The state of Wisconsin is laying down orange striping that represents temporary lane changes due to construction work. Since orange is a bright color, it can be seen easier on roads in the snow season.

Mall of America recently did restriping for 18,000 parking stalls on a 368,000 square foot property that includes a pair of 7-story parking garages. There are many other scenarios when pavement markings are needed, particularly in areas where pedestrians, bicyclists and children are present.

Planning Future Pavement Maintenance

Pavement markings need to be updated for large complexes every few years due to heavy traffic and weather conditions that result in fading images and colors. Fresh paint jobs project a cleaner and more authoritative image. When a road has to be repaved or repaired it’s necessary to add restriping to the project.

Large parking lots at airports, malls, apartment complexes, hotels, concert venues and theme parks must be maintained for safety, image and legal reasons. Many other smaller organizations with parking lots must stay up-to-date on pavement markings as well. Pavement marking stencils are useful when maintenance work must be repeated over the long-term because one stencil can be reused many times.

The most effective and reusable stencils are made of thick, flexible, and durable plastic that can be stored easily. It’s convenient and efficient to keep the stencils to save on design costs in the future.

While there are many standard pavement marking stencils to choose from, you have the option of customizing them so they are appropriate for your property. Some of the variables to consider when designing your stencils are font or symbol appearance, color and size. Using the same stencils for future maintenance is a sustainable strategy that can preserve your budget for other areas of improvement.

To learn about the advantages of Zumar products, contact us for a Free Quote.

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