CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Research continues on possibly turning the intersection of Queen and Grafton streets into a pedestrian scramble.
That would involve vehicular traffic stopping in all directions while pedestrians are permitted to cross on all four corners at the same time.
According to the public works department, studies conducted in jurisdictions like Toronto, have shown that pedestrian scramble crossings cause significant delays for vehicles, increase vehicle collisions, decrease the amount of ‘green time’ that vehicles see and have been shown to increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions because vehicles are idling at the intersection more often.
In terms of improving travel time and safety for pedestrians, only minor benefits have been noted.
In other jurisdictions, the effectiveness of the pedestrian scramble crossing increases as the percentage of pedestrian users increases. It’s felt there aren’t enough pedestrians using Queen and Grafton to warrant such a crossing.
Still, the review continues, which will include the cost of upgrading the intersection to make it possible.
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