Diagonal crossing in Cologne, Germany

  Hachikō Square in Shibuya, Tokyo, one of the most famous pedestrian scrambles.

  King George Street and Jaffa Road pedestrian scramble in Jerusalem, Israel (2007).

  Oxford Circus in London with a new pedestrian scramble opened in November 2009.

  Pedestrian scramble at New York City's Union Square.

A pedestrian scramble, also known as an 'X' Crossing (UK), diagonal crossing (US), scramble intersection (Canada), and, more poetically, a Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing system that stops all vehicular traffic and allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same time.

It was first used in Canada and the United States in the late 1940s,^[1][2] and though it has since fallen out of favour with traffic engineers in the United States, as it prioritises flow of pedestrians over flow of car traffic,^[2] the benefits in terms of pedestrian amenity and safety have led to new examples being installed in many countries in recent years.

One of the most famous and most heavily used intersections of this kind is in Shibuya, Tokyo.^[3]

  Development

The name "Barnes Dance" commemorates the traffic engineer Henry Barnes. While he did not claim to have invented it himself, Barnes was a strong advocate of it, having observed the difficulties his daughter experienced on her way to school.^[4] He first introduced it in his home city of Denver, United States in the 1940s and later brought it to Baltimore and New York.^[2] In his autobiography, The Man With the Red and Green Eyes (1965), Barnes recorded that a City Hall reporter, John Buchanan,^{[citation needed]} first coined the phrase by writing that "Barnes has made the people so happy they're dancing in the streets".^[4]

  Application

  In Australia

In Adelaide there are two scrambles on either end of Rundle Mall, one on King William Street and another on Pulteney Street. In Melbourne, such a crossing exists crossing Flinders Street, at the end of Elizabeth Street, adjacent to the enty/exit from Flinders Street Station. In Sydney, the intersection of George and Druitt Streets (with one of the corner blocks being the Sydney Town Hall) is a pedestrian scramble. In Brisbane there are two noteworthy scrambles- one in the central business district at the intersection of Adelaide and Edward Streets, adjacent to the Queen Street Mall and an entrance to Translink's Central Station, and a second at the intersection of Vulture and Boundary Streets in the eclectic West End suburb.

  In Canada

Vancouver was one of the first cities worldwide to use the concept (at individual locations).^[1] London, Ontario had a Barne's Dance crosswalk in the 1960's at the intersection of Clarence and King streets. In Toronto, the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street, the location of Yonge-Dundas Square, has the city's first installed scramble intersection.^[5]

  In Japan

In Japan, where over 300 such intersections exist, it is known as a scramble crossing (スクランブル交差点, sukuranburu-kōsaten^?).

  In New Zealand

In New Zealand, the first Barnes Dance was introduced in 1958 on Queen Street, Auckland, and was soon found in other cities as well.^[4] The Queen Street crossings remain today, despite early 2000s attempts to remove them for greater car priority, and have been extended with greater numbers of phases and pedestrian green times during the late 2000s.^{[citation needed]} There is also a Barnes Dance at the intersection of Lake Road, Hurstmere Road, Northcroft Street and The Strand in Takapuna.

Barnes Dances also existed in several other cities in New Zealand, notably on Colombo Street, Christchurch and at Cargill's Corner in South Dunedin, but have been gradually phased out. The only Barnes Dance remaining in the South Island at present is on Stafford Street in Timaru.

  In the United Kingdom

In London, diagonal crossings have been constructed at Balham in 2005, Oxford Circus in 2009^[6] and Wood Green in 2010^[7]

  Typical signage for a pedestrian scramble in the United States.

  In the United States

Kansas City was one of the first cities that used a pedestrian scramble system (at a few individual locations only).^[1]

Denver, Colorado formerly used the pedestrian scramble system at nearly every intersection in the downtown business district. The practice was eliminated on April 11, 2011, in order to "balance" resources allotted to pedestrians, vehicles, and mass transit. Complete stops of traffic from all directions will still occur but the diagonal crossing characteristic of the Barnes dance will no longer be legal.^[8][9]

In Hartford, Connecticut every crossing outside of the city centre requires all traffic to stop. Many crossings in the city centre do the same, such as the city's busiest intersection at Main and Gold Streets.^{[citation needed]}

In Washington, DC, diagonal crossing existed at several downtown intersections until the mid-1980s. It is being tried again on an experimental basis at 7th and H streets Northwest beginning May 2010.^[10]

San Diego, California has a pedestrian scramble on 5th and Market, in the middle of the busy Gaslamp Quarter.

Miami, Florida had a pedestrian scramble on SE 1st st and NE 2nd Ave removed in 2011.

San Francisco, California has several pedestrian scrambles along Stockton Street in Chinatown, Montgomery Street in the Financial District, and in several other locations.^[11]

Pasadena, California has several pedestrian scrambles along Colorado Blvd. in Old Town Pasadena

Seattle, Washington uses the pedestrian scramble at 1st and Pike, 1st and University, 1st and Cherry, Beacon and 15th, and at the West Seattle Junction. The intersections are marked with a sign labeled "All Way Walk."^[12]

The Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, California has decorative diagonal crossings at the intersections of 8th and 9th streets, respectively, with Franklin Street and Webster Street, respectively. These can be seen in this Google satellite view of the block bounded by the aforementioned streets.

In Los Angeles, California at the north border of the University of Southern California, there are two diagonal crossings which accommodate great numbers of student pedestrians and cyclists. They are along Jefferson Boulevard where it intersects with Hoover Street and with McClintock Avenue.

  Advantages and disadvantages

The pedestrian scramble, since it stops all motor vehicles rather than allowing partial vehicle movements to coexist with partial pedestrian movements, has sometimes been seen as inefficient by traffic engineers, and their removal supported as creating big savings in delays and congestion. In some countries this has led to a removal of at least individual installations. However, critics have dismissed these moves as further subordinating pedestrians to cars, and who consider the shared turns of motor vehicles and pedestrians as unnecessarily intimidating.^[2]

The pedestrian scramble only makes sense where large numbers of pedestrians are expected, and where they will also have enough space to gather on the sidewalks in larger numbers.^[13] Under certain circumstances, pedestrian scrambles could decrease safety, as the average waiting times for pedestrians and car drivers are increased, thus creating more likelihood of people disobeying the signals.^[14]

  See also

• Traffic light

  References

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pedestrian scrambles

• Time-lapse video of scramble intersection at Yonge and Dundas, Toronto