















|
Preferred
Parking
Written
April 7, 2004
Modified
April 11, 2023
Entrance
to Giant Eagle supermarket at Waterworks Mall, Pittsburgh
Here's
a minor peeve. Why are most small shopping centers, or
strip malls, laid out something like this?
There
are delivery entrances behind the stores, which I've depicted in
shades of gray. In front of the stores is a sidewalk (orange),
then a busy street (dashed yellow line), then the
handicapped parking spaces (blue), then the rest of the parking.
After
you've parked, you have to dodge other cars as you cross the street
to reach the stores. |
 |
But
why does the street have to pass directly in front of the stores,
especially since you aren't allowed to park on the street
itself? Why not relocate the street (dashed yellow
line) to the far side of the parking spaces?
In
this plan, the handicapped spaces are much closer to the
storefronts. Once you've found a space, there's a narrow
sidewalk (orange) right in front of it, and you can proceed to the
stores without having to avoid moving vehicles. The
wider sidewalk directly in front of the stores would be broad enough
to serve as a fire lane for emergency vehicles if necessary. |
 |
Automated
signs at the red X's could signal choose another row if
all spaces in that dead-end row are already full.
|