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A rainy Tuesday saw the debut of an all-directions pedestrian scramble at the corner of Granville and Robson streets in downtown Vancouver.
The city decided last year to pilot the return of a scramble intersection at Granville and Robson, which was chosen for its busy foot traffic and prominent location.
The intersection now has signal phasing that lets walkers cross simultaneously in all directions, including diagonally, while vehicle traffic is stopped.
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The corner has accessible pedestrian signals that provide audible and “vibrotactile” cues to alert people who are blind or have low vision.
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The idea of the scramble crossing, also known as a Barnes dance in recognition of traffic engineer Harry Barnes, is to improve pedestrian safety and allow quicker foot crossings free of vehicle interference.
Vancouver was an early adopter of scrambles, implementing one at Granville and Hastings streets from 1953 to ’70. In 2019, the city had an all-walk phase at Hornby and Robson streets but it did not allow diagonal crossings.
Though the scramble became operational Tuesday, paint markings indicating the change were delayed because of rain and will be completed in drier conditions expected on Wednesday evening.
The city will monitor the intersection’s performance and that will guide decisions on modifying the scramble and implementing them in other busy parts of the city.
The scramble is part of the city’s effort to make the downtown peninsula more friendly for walking and rolling, which includes another pilot in Gastown of a pedestrian-only zone that went into effect last month.
jruttle@postmedia.com
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