You can cross all 4 directions at once at this new Vancouver crosswalk
It's called an all-walk crosswalk, and the City of Vancouver is piloting it at Robson and Hornby streets
The City of Vancouver is piloting a crosswalk downtown that lets pedestrians cross in all four directions at once.
As of Thursday, the corners of Robson and Hornby streets will now be an "all-walk" crosswalk, allowing pedestrians to use all four crosswalks simultaneously, while all vehicle traffic is stopped by a red light.
It's part of the city's "Vision Zero" strategy to improve pedestrian safety and eliminate traffic-related deaths.
The city says, during a busy hour, about 2,500 pedestrians pass through the area, which includes a permanent plaza in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery that's under development.
The all-walk crosswalk differs from a scramble crosswalk, which lets pedestrians cross diagonally.
The city opted out of that option because of the traffic that turns left from Robson on to Hornby.
"We didn't want to have pedestrians cross and think that they can cross diagonally when there's a vehicle turning," said Winston Chou, manager of traffic and data management with the City of Vancouver.
Chou said a scramble crosswalk is still possible, but it would mean closing the south crosswalk or stopping pedestrians from crossing as cars turn left from Robson.
City staff will analyze the traffic impact over the next few months.
The city is considering installing the same crosswalk soon at the intersection of Howe and Robson. Chou said they'll consider other spots with high pedestrian volume and turning conflicts.
The Robson-Hornby intersection is also now outfitted with accessible pedestrian signals, which include audio cues that guide blind or partly blind people to the pole's push button.