Do-It-Yourself Traffic Control for Special Events

Large parties, fundraisers, and festivals take a lot of planning. It doesn’t end when you’ve lined up the food service, decorations, and entertainment. Special events call for special traffic control, whether you need to reconfigure an existing parking area, or transform a section of your property into a short-term parking lot.

Hiring valets, flaggers or parking attendants can greatly help to keep vehicles (and pedestrians) moving smoothly and in the right direction. But sometimes a little structural help can also come in handy. Delineating the boundaries and directional flow of parking spaces, aisles, and walkways keeps confusion and stress levels to a minimum. It can additionally help your guests to both start and end the event on a high note.

Here are a few simple ways to ensure successful traffic and pedestrian flow at your special event:

DIRECT VEHICLE FLOW

Instead of leaving drivers to randomly steer and park their vehicles throughout a congested parking area, use delineators to direct traffic flow into specific aisles, so that one row of parking spots is neatly filled before another opens up. An orderly parking process not only makes it easier for guests to remember where they left their cars, but also simplifies it for pedestrians, who can walk between the parking lot and event without constantly dodging vehicles.

Delineating poles are also useful for separating “front row” areas reserved for catering vans, deliveries, photographers, and VIP vehicles from general parking areas. These prevent impatient guests from swooping into parking spots that are reserved for those who require the most up-front, convenient access to the venue.

CREATE DESIGNATED PARKING SPACES

One of the best ways to maximize parking at your special event is to designate individual parking spaces, instead of just allowing guests to overestimate how much space their vehicles need. Temporary parking spaces can be easily laid out with the help of portable polyurethane parking stops. They lay across the head of each spot like their permanent concrete counterparts do, but can be picked up, moved, and stored whenever necessary.

Even if designating an entire lot’s worth of parking spots isn’t feasible, consider using just a few parking stops to denote reserved spots for disabled individuals in need of accessible spaces — or VIPs and guests of honor. To make it extra clear who the spaces are reserved for, the parking blocks can be easily spray-paint or stenciled with names or emblems.

CONTROL SPEED

There’s nothing more dangerous to pedestrians than speeding vehicles, so take control of parking lot speeds at your special event with portable, molded-polyurethane speed bumps. Just like portable parking stops, these temporary-to-permanent speed bumps can be installed wherever you need them. They can either be left in place or removed when the event is over. They’re even capable of being anchored into the ground, so that they don’t shift upon vehicle contact.

A secondary benefit to portable speed bumps is that some of them can double as cable and hose protectors, thanks to built-in channels that run end to end. If you need to run power cords, hoses, or air lines across the path of vehicle traffic, just cover them up with speed bump cord protectors, and anchor them into place. Cars, trucks and golf carts can then drive safely over, without crushing or causing damage to the cables beneath.

DEFINE PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS

It’s not a special event without people. Bustling crowds of attendees can cause traffic of another kind: pedestrian. Bollard posts are the best way to channel your guests in the right direction to keep them from trampling over every inch of lawns and landscaping. These posts create defined pedestrian walkways.

Most bollard posts are often made of plain metal or treated lumber; and they don’t need to drag down your event’s décor. Simply cover existing bollards with lightweight decorative post caps, which finish the appearance of your DIY crowd control. Just place the caps on the top of your posts, and your crowd control is instantly transformed from run-of-the-mill to sleekly sophisticated.

COVER AND PROTECT WALLS, CORNERS, AND COLUMNS

Once event guests have been ushered into the parking area, it’s important to ensure that structures on the property are safeguarded. This is where wall, corner, and column protectors step in.

Wall and corner protectors are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). It’s a high impact material that absorbs energy to prevent damage, if a vehicle collides with a structure. The protectors can be easily seen during the day or at night. High visibility column protectors also stand out in bright colors, can be stacked, and used inside or outdoors to keep beams safe.