All-direction 'scramble' crosswalk coming to downtown Vancouver intersection

Ginza Crossing, a scramble crosswalk in Tokyo, Japan, is seen from above in this image from Shutterstock.com. Vancouver city council approved a scramble crosswalk for Granville and Robson streets on Tuesday.

Vancouver city councillors have unanimously approved a plan to test a “pedestrian scramble” crossing at a busy downtown intersection.

Soon, people crossing the street at Granville and Robson will be able to do so in any direction simultaneously, including diagonally. These types of crossings add a third, pedestrian-only “scramble” phase, when vehicles are stopped in all directions.

Scramble crosswalks already exist in Canadian cities such as Toronto, Calgary and Victoria, and are a feature of major metropolises like New York City and—perhaps most famously—Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo.

Vancouver actually did have a scramble crossing at Granville and Hastings Streets from 1953 to 1970, according to the city. And an “all-walk” phase was implemented at Hornby and Robson streets in 2019, but pedestrians can’t cross diagonally there. The scramble cross makes its return after Coun. Peter Meiszner put a motion forward in April for city staff to explore the idea of a pilot project.

That project was presented to council on Tuesday. Winston Chou, manager of traffic and data management told councillors that pedestrian scrambles “minimize conflicts” between pedestrians and vehicles, which “translates to pedestrian safety and comfort.”

He said research on scramble crosswalks in other cities indicates they reduce pedestrian collisions by a range of 10 to 50 per cent.

“There is marked improvements,” he said. “(Scramble crosswalks) highlight to road users and motorists that the priority is pedestrians here.”

Drawbacks to these types of crossings include increased delays for transit and other vehicles, as well as accessibility challenges for blind or visually impaired pedestrians, Chou explained.

To help combat those issues, staff will be installing accessible pedestrian signals that include a verbal message of when the scramble is in effect and tactile warning strips on the sidewalk.

As for transit, Chou said the city consulted with TransLink, which raised concerns about the delays as Granville is a significant transit corridor. He said staff will continually monitor the situation and work with the transit operator.

The crossing at Granville and Robson will also include new diagonal zebra lines. Pedestrians won’t have to press a button to activate the scramble, and the three cycles will run 24/7.

When it came to choosing the location of the crossing, city staff picked intersections that have consistently high pedestrian volumes, a higher ration of pedestrians to traffic, and places where pedestrian safety is a concern.

Intersections that made the shortlist were Granville and Robson, Granville and Georgia, Commercial and 1st and Davie and Denman.

Chou told council that staff landed on Granville and Robson because the intersection’s infrastructure is newer, it has high pedestrian volumes compared to vehicles, and vehicles—except for transit—generally can’t turn at it.

The scramble at Granville and Robson will also result in the shortest delay for vehicles compared to the other options. According to the staff report, cars currently have to wait an average of 12.4 seconds at the intersection, which will increase to 31 seconds. In contrast, a scramble at Commercial and 1st would make drivers have to wait for almost five minutes.

“We feel that Robson and Granville is still a good location to try and test out and then see, and then in the future look at other locations potentially where we may expand,” Chou said.

He added the scramble crossing will cost approximately $100,000 to implement. The city originally allocated $500,000 for the project from its Growing Community Fund, so the remainder will be allocated of other pedestrian safety improvements.

Chou said the pilot is expected to be implemented by mid-2024 and will run indefinitely. Next steps include doing more consultations, advancing the designs and developing a monitoring plan.

The motion passed with two amendments. The first was for staff to report back on the pilot by the first quarter of 2025, so council can see how the scramble is used during the summer versus the fall.

The second amendment asks that staff include in the report recommendations for additional scramble crossings and leading pedestrian intervals—which give pedestrians a head start at intersections, reducing the risk of collisions.

“I think we've heard really compelling evidence today as to the case to move this forward,” said Meiszner during the vote.

“Given the fact that we can do this at a substantially reduced cost at this intersection, given the infrastructure that's in place, and I also think it's a great location for it in terms of place-making in terms of our pedestrian-friendly downtown and in terms of the Granville Street revitalization and the planning process, which is currently underway. So I’m really excited to see this move forward.”

Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung concurred, saying, “It’s really a great thing to be able to start putting much more focus on pedestrians in the city. I don’t think we’ve done enough of that.”

“I actually would love to see Vancouver doing more of this and leading in this area,” she added.