Edmonton Ditches Diagonal Scramble Crosswalks

0:00It's April 6th. Welcome to Canada News today, powered by AI. Edmonton City planners are moving ahead with plans to ditch the diagonal scramble crosswalks on White Avenue. These X-shaped pedestrian pass at three key spots. Gateway Boulevard, 104th Street over Calgary Trail, and 105th Street Prioritized Bus. Speeds over the current setup. Officials stress they're not unsafe, just slowing things down too much for drivers and transit. The push comes as Council gears up for a bus rapid transit proposal in the next four-year budget. Right now, signals run nearly 40 seconds to let folks cross diagonally, backing up buses that carry tens of thousands daily. Shorter crosswalks and tweaks to lights aim to cut those weights while keeping PED safer with curb extensions. Mayor Andrew Neck and Councillor Michael Jans dig the scrambles for boosting safety on this busy pedestrian strip, but they're holding off judgment. Both want more data on how it hits dedicated bus lanes before signing off.

1:02It's a classic tug of war between foot traffic and faster wheels. To fix it, no more right turns on red, plus green arrows for left, all folded into a $3.3 million transit upgrade from 99th Street to 109th Street. Removing the scrambles from the 2021 pilot, cost peanuts lights, get reused elsewhere. And construction kicks off this summer through end of 2026. This balancing act shows how the city's tweaking vision zero tools with fresh data, weighing every road user's needs without losing ground on safety.