Место сбора находится у аварийного выхода.

Because after место Russian often uses another noun in the genitive case to mean a place of something.

So:

• сбор = gathering, collection
• сбора = of gathering / of assembly

That gives:

• место сбора = assembly point, gathering place, place of assembly

This is a very common pattern in Russian, like:

• стакан воды = a glass of water
• центр города = the city center
• место встречи = meeting place

In Russian, есть is usually not used the way English uses is in simple location sentences.

So Russian often says:

• Место сбора находится у аварийного выхода. = The assembly point is located by the emergency exit.

The verb находиться means to be located / to be situated. It sounds natural and slightly formal or official, which fits a safety-related sentence well.

Using есть here would sound unnatural.

У takes the genitive case here.

That is why you get:

• у аварийного выхода

not the dictionary forms:

• аварийный выход

So the structure is:

• у + genitive = by, near, at

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun in case, number, and gender.

The noun is:

• выход = exit

After у, it becomes genitive singular:

• выхода

The adjective is:

• аварийный = emergency

It must match выхода, so it also becomes genitive singular masculine:

• аварийного

So:

• аварийный выход = emergency exit
• у аварийного выхода = by the emergency exit

Here у means something like:

• by
• near
• next to

So у аварийного выхода means the assembly point is located near the emergency exit, not inside it.

This is a very common use of у with places and objects.

Yes, you could.

These are all possible:

• у аварийного выхода
• около аварийного выхода
• возле аварийного выхода

They all mean near/by the emergency exit.

A rough difference:

• у = very common, short, natural
• возле = near, next to
• около = near; also has another meaning in other contexts, approximately

In this sentence, у is perfectly natural and concise.

Because в usually means in or into.

If you said something with в аварийном выходе, it would sound like in the emergency exit, which is not the intended meaning.

The sentence wants to say the assembly point is near the exit, so Russian uses:

• у
• or possibly возле / около

not в.

Yes, it is a common expression, especially in safety, evacuation, and workplace contexts.

It usually means:

• assembly point
• muster point
• gathering point

So in real life you may see место сбора on signs, plans, and safety instructions.

Yes. In a sign or label, Russian often omits words that are understood from context.

So you might also see:

• Место сбора у аварийного выхода.

That sounds like a sign or caption: Assembly point by the emergency exit.

The full version with находится is a complete sentence and sounds a bit more formal or explanatory.

Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral version is:

• Место сбора находится у аварийного выхода.

You could also say:

• У аварийного выхода находится место сбора.

That version puts more emphasis on the location first: By the emergency exit is the assembly point.

Both are grammatical, but the original version is the most straightforward for learners.

The stress is:

• Ме́сто сбо́ра нахо́дится у ава́рийного вы́хода.

A few useful notes:

• ме́сто → stress on the first syllable
• сбо́ра → stress on сбо́-
• нахо́дится → stress on хо́
• ава́рийного → stress on ва́
• вы́хода → stress on вы́

Also, in standard pronunciation, adjective endings like -ого are often pronounced closer to -ово than they look in spelling, so аварийного is not pronounced strictly letter by letter.

A very literal breakdown is:

• место = place
• сбора = of gathering / of assembly
• находится = is located
• у = by / near
• аварийного выхода = of the emergency exit

So the structure is basically:

• [assembly place] [is located] [by the emergency exit]

Even if the natural English translation is smoother, seeing the Russian structure this way helps explain the cases and word choices.