Scramble crosswalks (also referred to as a Barnes Dance, X Crossing) stops all traffic to allow pedestrians to cross in all directions.
Benefits & Problems Addressed
Safety: Cars and pedestrians do not advance at the same time, lessening the chance for conflicts.
Pedestrian convenience: Pedestrians crossing diagonally have a short wait time.
Faster traffic flows: Cars with a green light do not have to wait for pedestrians to cross before turning.
Tips & Techniques
Candidate intersections: The pedestrian scramble is best where large numbers of pedestrians cross in all directions and have enough space to wait on the sidewalks. Denver CO eliminated one of the oldest pedestrian scrambles in the US when they found fewer than 10% of pedestrians crossed diagonally.
Signage: Because pedestrian scramble intersections are rare, good signage is critical to guide pedestrians making a diagonal crossing.
Enforcement: Scramble intersection eliminate right turn on red, and require pedestrians to wait until given a crossing signal. Scramble intersections can lengthen the wait times depending on signal timing.
Hot Buttons: Tension between whether pedestrians or cars get priority signal timing. Impacts on LOS from all way auto stops. Driver & pedetrian frustration with new patterns & wait times.
