Memmingen - Walter Baur, advisor to the Bavarian Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (BBSB) gropes his way with the help of his Landstock in the Memminger Kramerstraße.
"The gutters are now clearly more palpable," is his positive conclusion.
In consultation with the Association of the Blind, the Specialist Office for Inclusion and the Advisory Board for the Disabled, around 80 meters of milling work was carried out in the Memmingen pedestrian zone in order to improve the orientation lines in the pedestrian zone for people who rely on a stick.
Especially with long sticks with a ball at the tip, the groove with three indentations can now be heard more clearly when the stick pendulums.
"The difficulty here: The guidelines must not become an obstacle for people with wheelchairs or walkers," says Erika Winterwerb, member of the Memmingen Disability Advisory Board.
Previous orientation criteria not sufficient - improvements were necessary
After the redesign of the pedestrian zone, which was completed in 2015, it was actually expected that the recesses in the middle of the streets and the edges of buildings would be sufficient for orientation for blind and visually impaired people.
However, experience showed that this was too difficult.
What prompted the Disability Advisory Board to submit an application to improve the guidance system.
In consultation with the municipal building authority, the milling of additional lines was commissioned.
Unfortunately, the work was delayed again due to the corona restrictions, as the specialist company for the milling work comes from Austria.
(MK)
