Traffic lights at a downtown D.C. intersection began legally allowing pedestrians to cross right through the middle of the junction on Wednesday morning, using diagonal crossings in what’s known as a “scramble” intersection.
But from the start, the pilot project at the Seventh and H streets intersection in Northwest got mixed reactions from pedestrians who are long used to the traditional way of crossing one street at a time and drivers who are used to turning there.
The modified Barnes Dance, or scramble, intersection at Seventh and H streets Northwest no longer allows vehicles to turn as of 10 a.m. Wednesday. Instead, pedestrians can now cross with traffic in either direction as they normally would, or they can cross diagonally when all vehicles have red lights once per light cycle. The District had similar-styled intersections downtown in the 1960s and 1970s.
Liz Copeland, 23, was among the first to cross after the 10 a.m. switch, using the diagonal to get to her office kitty-corner from the Gallery Place Metrorail stop. She said she liked it, noting that it was more efficient than making two crosses and waiting in between for lights to change.
Karen Sallis also crossed the intersection diagonally but yelled to the three traffic coordinators blowing whistles to coordinate the traffic that she wouldn’t be there without them. The coordinators are slated to staff the intersection for the first two weeks to help all passers-by adjust to the change.
But without them? “Heck no,” she said once on the other side. “This is one of the busiest intersections.”
Meanwhile, Denny Lee opted out of the diagonal cross entirely, taking the standard route then waiting for the light to change to make the second leg across the intersection. He said he’ll continue to avoid the diagonal option. “It’s not the usual way we cross the street,” he said. “I don’t feel safe.”
Meanwhile, Denny Lee opted out of the diagonal cross entirely, taking the standard route then waiting for the light to change to make the second leg across the intersection. He said he’ll continue to avoid the diagonal option. “It’s not the usual way we cross the street,” he said. “I don’t feel safe.”
Drivers who’d switched on their turn signals also looked confused when motioned to keep driving straight.
The Chinatown intersection is among the busiest in the city, with nearly 27,000 pedestrians and 26,000 vehicles passing through it on a typical day, according to the District Department of Transportation. That also makes it dangerous, with the agency reporting 35 crashes there causing nine injuries last year. There were still shards of broken mirror in the intersection on Wednesday, a remnant of some recent run-in.
But the new crossing, also known as a modified Barnes Dance, is a “little bit more safe,” DDOT’s pedestrian program coordinator George Branyan said. The change means vehicles can no longer turn there, the key source of pedestrian crashes.
Yet it also means vehicles will now have about 15 fewer seconds in the traffic cycle, down from about 50 seconds, Branyan said.
The city is testing it for six months but will stop the program earlier if it doesn’t catch on. DDOT spokesman John Lisle estimates it cost less than $20,000 to install the signs and reprogram the lights, though that does not include the cost of the traffic conductors.
