Getting to Class Easier for 'SC Students

• Two diagonal crosswalks helps USC students cross intersections more easily.
  
• City officials have no plans to build more intersections.
  
• Safety has improved, but crowdedness is still a concern

Click HERE or on the picture to see how diagonal crosswalks work.

The two new diagonal crosswalks adjacent to USC's campus have elicited mostly positive responses from the city, university officials and especially students.

"Crossing diagonally saves me time," said Debby Chung, a USC junior. "It's great."

The city installed the diagonal crosswalks, also known as pedestrian scrambles, at the intersections of McClintock Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard in August.

Los Angeles Department of Transportation public information director Bruce Gillman said the USC intersections were partially chosen because students would often jaywalk to campus.

"There were a lot of people who were not using the crosswalks and were riding back and forth across the streets," Gillman said "We thought we could clear the middle of the blocks and force people to gravitate to where the diagnols have been installed."

In addition, students used to cross diagonally anyway, before the new crosswalks were installed.

"I would cross diagonally [before] but just in the shorter time period," Chung said. "I think everyone else did."

Jenny McCorkle is a USC student who lives off-campus. She also said she had crossed diagonally before the scramble crosswalks were installed.

"I would always have to look out for the cops," she said.

USC Department of Public Safety officials said the flow of pedestrian traffic has improved.

"Occasionally during the heaviest times of foot traffic, during the morning rushes, there would be so many students on the blocks that they couldnt get across the street in time," said Capt. Antonia Young. "We had crossing guards dealing with the problem."

But some students say there are still problems, saying the crosswalks are always crowded.

"It's really hard to actually cross without hitting someone," said Julia Duran. "You're always running into people especially people on bikes always hitting pedestrians or pedestrians getting in the way."

Not all streets around USC will be converted to diagonal ones. For one, the streets cannot have major vehicular traffic. This eliminates intersections such as Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street. Gillman said in these cases, cars would back up and cause traffic jams.

"It's not a panacea for every intersection in the city," he said.

But Jefferson is a secondary arterial, making it more conducive to having a diagonal crosswalk.

Eight other diagonal crosswalks in Los Angeles have either been completed or are in the process of being constructed. Converting normal crosswalks to diagonal ones costs $7000, according to a transportation department press release.

Related story:
Pasadena has had diagonal crosswalks in its downtown district well before Los Angeles installed them in its intersections. Read about Pasadena's scramble crosswalks HERE.

• View photos from the McClintock Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard crosswalk HERE.
  
• View photos from the Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard crosswalk HERE.
  
• View the entire gallery HERE.
  

Pasadena's Purposeful Crosswalks

Diagonal crosswalks are making a comeback in Los Angeles, but in nearby Pasadena, crosswalks have helped regulate traffic in the pedestrian-friendly city for years.

In the popular shopping and dining destination of Old Town Pasadena, both locals and visitors can cross two intersections using diagonal crosswalks: Colorado Boulevard and De Lacey Avenue, and Colorado Boulevard and Raymond Avenue.

Although there are many cars driving up and down the streets, many people walk and bike along the streets of Old Town.

"I park my car in a parking structure and I walk around all day to browse and shop," said Liz Trawick, 20, who grew up in San Marino, not too far from Pasadena. "Driving around is a hassle because there's no street parking."

Pasadena city officials said the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and De Lacey Avenue has the right combination pedestrian traffic and vehicle congestion needed for a diagonal crosswalk.

Colorado and De Lacey: In-depth
Click here to view photo slideshow or click the picture below.

The intersection of Colorado and De Lacey is a busy one. Stores and restaurants such as Tiffany's, Crate & Barrel, 21 Choices and Kabuki invite shoppers and diners to come indoors. Pedestrians stand at the street corners, constantly ready to cross.

Pasadena transportation officials said if the diagonal intersection were not there, cars that try to make right turns would not have an opportunity to safely turn during their right of way.

This is especially true for cars on De Lacey that try to cross Coloardo, said Bahman Janka, transportation administrator for the Pasadena Department of Transportation. Because De Lacey is a one-lane street, cars that want to make left or right turns would have to wait for the crowds of pedestrians to cross. And while they are waiting, more cars could line up behind them.

"It only takes one car in front of the queue and they have to pause and wait for pedestrians," Janka said. "It might be 10 to 15 cars, but just that one car in the front makes them wait."

The Bigger Picture
Click here to view photo slideshow or click the picture below.

The diagonal crosswalks also help make Old Town Pasadena more pedestrian friendly.

"If pedestrians wanted to go southeast to northwest, they don't have to cross one leg and wait another cycle to cross the other leg," Janka said. "You are facilitating pedestrian movements."

Still, Pasadena transportation officials know that the diagonal crosswalks cannot be used in every intersection.

"Yes we want to encourage pedestrians and facilitate movement, but in some places when you do this you'll unduly burden the vehicular movement," Janka said.

Janka said in intersections with a lot of vehicular traffic, stopping traffic for 30 to 40 seconds would cause too much vehicular backup on the streets, which would undermine the crosswalk's purpose of speeding up movements for pedestrians and motorists.

"There needs to be a balance," he added.

Trawick said she had noticed the diagonal crosswalks and thought they were very convenient.

"It saves me a lot of time when I want to cross the street," she said. "And since so many people want to cross, it's good that the city gives them plenty of time to move through the intersection."

Related Story

Two intersections near USC also installed diagonal crosswalks. To learn more about how students are using the new crosswalks, click HERE.

To see pictures of the crosswalk at Colorado Boulevard and De Lacey Avenue, click HERE. 

To view the entire crosswalk gallery, click HERE. 
Back to the HOME PAGE.

Diagonal Crosswalks: The Breakdown

In August, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation installed diagonal crosswalks at the intersections of Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard. Here's how this diagonal crosswalk works. 

• In intersections that have diagonal crosswalks, there is an exclusive pedestrian-only phase in which only pedestrians can move through the intersection. This means pedestrians and bicyclists don't have to worry about cars making turns. 
  
• Pedestrians can cross at right angles to the street or diagonally across the intersection.
  
• No cars, trucks or other vehicles are allowed to move through the intersection during the pedestrian-only cycle. This means there is a much lower change that a person will be hit be a vehicle while he or she is crossing the street. 
  
• During the vehicular traffic stage, no pedestrians are allowed to be in the intersection. This allows cars and trucks to make turns without worrying about pedestrians running across the street. 
• For example, cars can make right turns easily because pedestrians must wait, even if it is the light is green. 
• Cars that make left turns also do not have to worry about pedestrians. They only have to concentrate on oncoming traffic, which means drivers have one less thing to worry about at diagonal intersections. 
• At the intersection of Hoover and Jefferson, the traffic cycle takes less than two minutes to go from one pedestrian stage to the next.
• There are some concerns diagonal crosswalks slow down vehicular traffic because no cars are moving during the 30 to 40 seconds it takes for pedestrians to cross the street.
• But city officials say in intersections like this one with many pedestrians in a nonmajor-arterial street speeds up traffic because cars are able to turn more easily during the vehicular traffic stage.

Related Stories:

Read more about the diagonal crosswalks near USC, including student reactions, HERE. 

Diagonal crosswalks are also used in Pasadena to help make it a more pedestrian-friendly place. Click HERE. 

Check out our crosswalk photo gallery HERE. 

Diagonal Crossing Photo Gallaries

Press Release

Contacts

City of Los Angeles
Department of Transportation
100 S. Main St., 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 972-8470
Email: ladot@lacity.org


City of Pasadena
Department of Transportation
221 E. Walnut Street, Suite 210
Pasadena, CA 91101
Main Number: 626-744-TRIP

University of Southern California
Department of Public Safety
David Carlisle
Captain, Training/Accreditation
DCarlisle@caps.usc.edu
Antonia Young
Captain, Crime Prevention/Public Relations
AYoung@caps.usc.edu