Jabal Hussein tactile pavement construction ‘nearing completion’

AMMAN — Aiming at unifying navigational patterns for people who are blind or have a visual impairment, the Greater Amman Municipality’s (GAM) project to install tactile pavements in the Jabal Hussein neighbourhood will be completed in two weeks, according to an official.

GAM is giving special attention to raising awareness about accessibility of public spaces, Manager of Constructions and Supervision Department at GAM Sawsan Haddad told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

“Tactile pavements are guiding tiles that people who are blind and walking with white canes can use to assess their surroundings,” Haddad said.

GAM is completing the first phase of the project in Jabal Hussein, extending from Sukaina School to Firas intersection, according to the official, who added that that area was chosen due to the presence of public service buildings, medical clinics, banks, schools and frequent gatherings of all ages, 

“GAM also reorganised traffic lanes towards Jamal Abdul Nasser Square in both directions, rebuilt the sidewalks and put in effort to make it an aesthetically pleasing environment,” she said.

Rama Idris, a Foreign Languages student at the University of Jordan (UJ), said that the UJ is the “perfect” institution for students who have a visual impairment, as it offers various accessibility features, such as detectable tiles.

“A friend of mine who is blind taught me that there are two kinds of patterns in the tiles, also known as detectable warnings: The raised oblong lines show the person what direction to take and the round raised dots indicate that greater attention must be paid,” Idris told The Jordan Times on Saturday.