Like the beginning of any semester at Sacramento State, lines are forming all over campus – at the bookstore, the admissions and records office, the financial aid office — but this Spring new lines will be visible.

These yellow strips, known as tactile guides, assist visually impaired students, visitors and faculty who may experience difficulty getting around the university grounds.

During the winter break 1,100 feet worth of textiles in 21 different locations were installed throughout Sac State. Along with the guide strips, 13 wheelchair ramps have also been installed.

Sac State is home to 31 visually impaired or blind students. Some of those students raised concerns about the lack of guide strips.

“Students were very frustrated with the difficulty of getting through campus,” said Eugene Lozano, a Disability Management Counselor at Sac State.

Gabe Griffith, a graduate student at Sac State, is visually impaired. He mostly depends on his guide dog for assistance, but occasionally he uses a cane.

“Sac State is not a campus that is laid out in a perfect grid. Those paths curve all over the place,” said Griffith. He utilizes the tactile strips by moving along side, softly swinging a cane back and forth across the strip. The bright yellow color is used to help those with minimal vision. When using his guide dog, Griffith walks directly on the strip.

The project was approved through the University Committee on Persons with Disabilities and is funded through the Minor Capital Outlay Budget. The expected total price tag for tactile guides and wheelchair ramps is $65,000.

By completing this and other construction projects, the university is maintaining the requirements set forth by law in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Several changes have been made to ensure that ADA regulations are being met. Automatic doors have been installed in bathrooms and a stair lift is soon to be placed in the library near the entrance to the media center.

Sac State originally started inserting several tactile guide strips throughout the campus in 1991. Since then, many of the tactile strips have been damaged.

According Robin Lovering, Manager for Projects Design and Development on campus, some of the damage occurred as a result of using glue for installation. The glue could not keep the tactiles in place. Construction workers then tried using a saw cut and tab technique to keep the textiles in place. However, this method proved to be unreliable as textiles continued to detach. Now, textiles are being placed in stretches of freshly laid concrete.

The construction did create some detours around campus. At the University Union, caution tape was run directly in front of the main entrance, while areas outside of Mendocino Hall caused minor diversion to foot traffic.