Pedestrian scramble
Encyclopedia
A pedestrian scramble, also known as a 'X' Crossing (UK), diagonal crossing (US), scramble intersection (Canada), and more poetically Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing
Pedestrian crossing
A pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a designated point on a road at which some means are employed to assist pedestrians wishing to cross. They are designed to keep pedestrians together where they can be seen by motorists, and where they can cross most safely across the flow of vehicular traffic...
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 1940's, and has since then been adopted in many other cities and countries. Though it fell out of favour with traffic engineers in some countries for a while as it prioritises pedestrians higher (and thus more than cars, in some situations), the understanding of the benefits in terms of pedestrian amenity and safety have led to new examples being installed in many countries in recent years.
The most famous implementation of this kind of intersection is in Shibuya, Tokyo
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
.
Etymology
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. He first introduced it in his home city of Denver, United States in the 1940s and later brought it to Baltimore and New York. In his autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, The Man With the Red and Green Eyes (1965), Barnes recorded that a City Hall reporter, John Buchanan, first coined the phrase by writing that "Barnes has made the people so happy they're dancing in the streets".
In Australia
In AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
there are two scrambles on either end of Rundle Mall, one on King William Street
King William Street, Adelaide
King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide . It was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after King William IV, the then reigning monarch, who died within a month...
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
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the intersection of George and Druitt Streets (with one of the corner blocks being the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
) is a pedestrian scramble. In Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
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
VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
was one of the first cities worldwide to use the concept (at individual locations). In Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, the intersection of Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
and Dundas Street
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
, the location of Yonge-Dundas Square, has the city's first installed scramble intersection.\
In Japan
In JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where over 300 such intersections exist, it is known as a .
In New Zealand
In New Zealand, the first Barnes Dance was introduced in 1958 on Queen Street, AucklandQueen Street, Auckland
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...
, and was soon found in other cities as well. 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.
In the United Kingdom
In London, diagonal crossings have been constructed at BalhamBalham, London
Balham is a neighbourhood of south London, England, and is part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and the London Borough of Lambeth.-History:...
in 2005, Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus is the area of London at the busy intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street, in the West End. It is served by Oxford Circus tube station, which is directly beneath the junction itself.- History :...
in 2009 and Wood Green
Wood Green
Wood Green is a district in north London, England, located in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated north of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London.-History:...
in 2010
In the United States
Kansas City was one of the first cities that used a pedestrian scramble system (at a few individual locations only).Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
uses the pedestrian scramble system at nearly every intersection in the downtown business district. The practice is slated to be eliminated May 14, 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.
In Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
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.
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.
San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
has a pedestrian scramble on 5th and Market, in the middle of the busy Gaslamp Quarter.
Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
had a pedestrian scramble on SE 1st st and NE 2nd Ave removed in 2011.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
has several pedestrian scrambles along Stockton Street
Stockton Street (San Francisco)
Stockton Street is a north-south street in San Francisco. It begins at Market Street passing Union Square, a major shopping district in the city. It then runs under the Stockton Street Tunnel, through Chinatown and North Beach, and ends at Beach Street near Pier 39...
in Chinatown, Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's...
in the Financial District, and in several other locations.
Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
has several pedestrian scrambles along Colorado Blvd. in Old Town Pasadena
Old Town Pasadena
Old Pasadena is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States that arose from one of the most prosperous areas of the state, and had a latter day revitalization after a period of decay...
Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
uses the pedestrian scramble at 1st and Pike, 1st and University, 1st and Cherry, Beacon and 15th, and at the West Seattle Junction.
The Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
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.
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.It has been noted that 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. Under certain circumstances, pedestrian scrambles could in fact decrease safety, as the average waiting times for pedestrians and car drivers is increased, thus creating more likelihood of people disobeying the signals.