Finding a parking spot in Canal Park after a Lake Superior winter storm dumps heavy wet snow is difficult. If the lines are faded, the parking area becomes disorganized. Up here in Duluth, Minnesota, the local weather causes many problems for pavement. Between heavy snowplows scraping the surface all winter and the brutal freeze-thaw cycles that occur every spring, parking lot striping takes a very large amount of abuse. When lines are worn out and difficult to see, property owners are inviting fender benders and frustrating their customers.
Fortune Asphalt Duluth talks to business owners who wonder why their fresh paint did not last past its first January. The secret to Parking Lot Striping is not just putting down any random traffic paint and hoping for the best. Fortune Asphalt Duluth uses high-grade chlorinated rubber and durable thermoplastic paints that can handle studded tires and heavy steel plow blades scraping across the asphalt. Whether you are running a busy retail strip up on Miller Hill or managing an apartment complex down in Lincoln Park, crisp Parking Lot Striping is important for safety, liability, and maximizing every square foot of your lot.
Why Duluth Winters Destroy Cheap Paint
Our local soil and weather conditions create a unique challenge for pavement markings in Duluth, MN. When the frost heaves the clay-heavy soils in the area, the asphalt shifts. Couple that movement with aggressive snow removal, and cheap paint peels right off the aggregate. Fortune Asphalt Duluth sees property owners try to save money with do-it-yourself kits from the store, only to watch the lines vanish by the time the ice breaks up in April. Professional Parking Lot Striping requires proper surface preparation, clean asphalt, and the right atmospheric temperature during application so the paint actually bonds with the pores of the pavement instead of just sitting on top of it.
Laying Out Smart Traffic Flows
Every commercial property in the Duluth area has its own layout quirk. Maybe you have a steep slope heading down toward the lake that requires careful ADA stall placement, or a tight loading zone behind a restaurant in the Craft District. A quality Parking Lot Striping job makes traffic flow intuitively. Fortune Asphalt Duluth maps out stalls, fire lanes, pedestrian crosswalks, and directional arrows to keep delivery trucks and compact cars moving without incident. ADA compliance is also very important here; federal and state guidelines change, and getting those handicap stalls measured and marked correctly prevents legal issues and fines.
Timing is very important when it comes to getting Asphalt Striping work done in Duluth, MN. Fortune Asphalt Duluth usually has a solid window between late spring and early fall before the overnight temperatures drop too low for the paint to cure properly. If you wait until October, moisture and cold air will ruin the adhesion. For properties in Duluth, Fortune Asphalt Duluth provides Parking Lot Striping services to keep your lot safe and organized all year round.