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MAJOR LONDON INTERSECTION ADOPTS SCRAMBLE CROSSING
Tree Hugger - In a bid to make pedestrians' lives easier and safer, Oxford Circus, one of the busiest street crossings in London, has been redesigned. [ with] a copy of the Japanese "scramble crossing." . . .
When the traffic lights turn red, cars in all directions have to stop and let pedestrians go. There is a 30 second window when walkers can cross in any diagonal configuration, not just corner to corner. Studies have shown that an X-shaped crossing is far more efficient. . .
As part of the L5M renovation all the barriers, curbs, railings and balustrades have also been removed. Now pedestrians will be able to flow across the streets and into subway entrances without bottlenecks. Sidewalk space has been enlarged by two thirds which is a real plus at an intersection where 30,000 people can pass through in peak times.
When the traffic lights turn red, cars in all directions have to stop and let pedestrians go. There is a 30 second window when walkers can cross in any diagonal configuration, not just corner to corner. Studies have shown that an X-shaped crossing is far more efficient. . .
As part of the L5M renovation all the barriers, curbs, railings and balustrades have also been removed. Now pedestrians will be able to flow across the streets and into subway entrances without bottlenecks. Sidewalk space has been enlarged by two thirds which is a real plus at an intersection where 30,000 people can pass through in peak times.
1 Comments:
Denver uses these downtown.
The really strange part is that the use them in places at the intersections of two one-way streets. Such intersections are already easy on pedestrians. When two one-way streets intersect, pedestrians can always easily choose to cross a street where the traffic is stopped and where no turning cars may possibly enter the street they are crossing. (unless they go the wrong way up the 1-way street).
So, the intersection of two one-way streets is always a very easy crossing for pedestrians. Used in this case, this 'scramble' crossing style merely slows down traffic in order to save pedestrians a few seconds.
Notes from an ex-surveyor. Thus, I used to be a professional about playing in traffic in order to get the required measurements!
The 'scramble' crossing isn't a bad idea. It just needs to be used in the right places. An intersection of two busy, mutlilane, two-way streets is the much better place to use these. Those crossings are always more dangerous as cars can come at a pedestrian from more directions.
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