Scramble Crossings (City of Toronto) (Yonge/Dundas, Yonge/Bloor, Bay/Bloor)

[khris]

When they first announced the scramble intersections, they said there were others that would also be made, but so far only the one has been done.

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

When will we be seeing other scramble crossings at intersections?

At Rogers Road and Old Weston Road, there is a phase where the pedestrians have the walk signal in four directions, but not diagonally or scrambled. To me, it is a prefect candidate for a scramble crossing, maybe not as busy as the downtown intersections, but only on a request basis.

Are there other intersections in the GTA that have such 4 way pedestrian crossings that could be converted into a scramble?

Funny you should mention that, I drive through there every day and have often thought the same thing. People do cross diagonally, but it can be a bit of a challenge given the distance and the time available. Really all the city would have to do is extend the crossing time by a few seconds and paint some new lines.

 

[adma]

Dundas/Annette/Dupont?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Dundas/Annette/Dupont?

Old Weston Road has a phase which allows vehicles from Old Weston Road to travel to all the other roads in the intersections, but on a request basic whenever a vehicle triggers the loops at the stop line. There is no pedestrian only phase at that intersection.

 

[khris]

In addition to the recent one opened at Yonge & Bloor. The next one at Bay & Bloor is opening today apparently.

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:
==========================================

News Release

November 3, 2010

Bloor and Bay becomes Toronto’s third pedestrian priority intersection


The City of Toronto is adding a pedestrian priority phase to the intersection of Bloor Street and Bay Street on November 3, providing pedestrians with the opportunity to cross safely in any direction including diagonally.

The pedestrian priority phase has been implemented in a number of other cities and has reduced conflict between pedestrians and vehicles by separating the flow of traffic and the movement of pedestrians.

Pedestrian priority intersections (or “pedestrian scramble”) were approved for use by City Council in 2007 and the first was installed at Yonge Street and Dundas Street in 2008. The Bloor-Bay intersection is the third in the city to receive this technology and is being implemented at the completion of the Bloor Street reconstruction project.

To help ensure the smooth transition to a pedestrian priority phase at Bloor Street and Bay Street, Toronto’s Transportation Services division will:
- Adjust the timing of lights to allow pedestrians to safely clear the intersection
- Enhance the Accessible Pedestrian Signals to assist the blind and visually impaired
- Monitor the intersection to determine whether any adjustments need to be made.

 

[androiduk]

^ Yup, it was working this morning when I went by.

 

[DKsan]

Is anyone else thinking that they really need a scramble crossing at Spadina and Dundas?

It's one of the busiest pedestrians intersections in the city, with automobile traffic hardly being able to turn thanks to the multitude of people walking there.

 

[lafard]

Spadina and Dundas is probably a no, because of the size of the intersection and the streetcars, particularly the 510.

I think Bay and Dundas was the next one, no? I know Yonge and Eglinton was mentioned too, though I don't know if that one is busy enough to warrant it.

Queen and Yonge would be another good location (Queen and Bay too, but it's a jogged intersection and probably dangerous).

 

[gweed123]

Should be interesting to see what having 2 scramble intersections so close together does to traffic flow in the area, particularly along Bloor.

It would be interesting to see if they would do scramble intersections only at certain times of the day (say for instance at King & Bay in the AM and PM rush hours, as well as between 11:30 and 1). My thinking around this is install them in areas where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the peak hours, but not enough to justify the scramble in off-peak hours.

 

[khris]

Ya, I agree. It only makes sense to have scrambling when it's needed. But then, if you only have scrambling sometimes, and not other times, it could be dangerous for pedestrians who think it's all the time, and walk into the street diagonally and get hit by a car.

 

[gweed123]

Ya, I agree. It only makes sense to have scrambling when it's needed. But then, if you only have scrambling sometimes, and not other times, it could be dangerous for pedestrians who think it's all the time, and walk into the street diagonally and get hit by a car.

Then it's Darwin's way, haha. Although to be fair, most pedestrians don't know when the scramble fits into the cycle anyway (whether it's after the N-S traffic or the E-W traffic). You see many more pedestrians anticipating (and jumping ahead of) the regular crossings than you do jumping ahead of the scrambles.

 

[SimonP]

So far none of the scrambles have been on intersections with streetcars. I wonder if this is city policy. Otherwise Spadina/Dundas and Yonge/Queen would make a lot of sense.

 

[rbt]

So far none of the scrambles have been on intersections with streetcars.

Except for the first one at Yonge/Dundas of course.

 

[SimonP]

Whoops, guess I should have thought a bit more before that post.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Queen and Spadina are probably considered more important routes than Dundas, though, so you've still got a point. I don't think they want to do anything that could potentially make Queen, King or Spadina run slower or less reliably.

I think Yonge & Eglinton would be a cool spot for one of these.Yonge & Front, too.