Nelson City Council, at its July 8 meeting, directed its planning staff to explore the potential of a "pedestrian scramble" at the intersection of Baker and Ward Streets.
In a pedestrian scramble, all four vehicle lights at an intersection go red at the same time so pedestrians can cross diagonally or in a straight line. All cars in all directions wait and are not allowed to turn. This transforms the intersection into a secure multi-directional pedestrian environment until the light changes.
At the light change, the cars on Baker Street (for example) would proceed or turn. If they turn, there would be no pedestrians to slow them down. Then the light would change for Ward Street cars, then for pedestrians again.
At the council meeting, this suggestion came up as part of a review of Nelson's Active Transportation Plan and pedestrian safety. Councillor Rik Logtenberg commented that Baker Street traffic gets backed up because turning drivers often spend the duration of their green light waiting for pedestrians to cross. This backs up the traffic behind them and puts pedestrians at risk, he said.
"You can see it happening," he said, "and it's interesting because it's the pedestrians that are the source of it."
A scramble would mean there would be no interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. While all pedestrians are moving, all vehicles are all stopped, and vice-versa. In addition to being efficient, this would reduce conflict and uncertainty between drivers and pedestrians, Logtenberg said.
Pedestrian scrambles are an innovation well known in much of the world but relatively new to North America.
This is not the first time a scramble has been suggested for Nelson. The Downtown Urban Design Strategy, published in 2017 and still considered to be a roadmap for downtown changes, recommends a scramble at the Ward and Baker intersection.
The Town of Banff instituted a scramble as an experiment in 2014 and then made it permanent. The town's website states that scrambles are effective because "they permit diagonal crossings for pedestrians (making pedestrian movements more efficient) and it provides vehicles the opportunity to move through the intersection without interruptions from pedestrians."
There are also pedestrian scrambles in several other Canadian municipalities including Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Richmond.
Nelson council's decision was not to install a scramble, but to study its potential.
In an email. Natalie Andrijancic, the city's director of development services, said no one at the city has experience with scrambles but she called it "an interesting idea with real potential," because it could make it safer for pedestrians and help vehicles to move more freely.
"We’d definitely want to study it further and talk to the community to see if it’s the right fit for Nelson."
