A scramble crossing has been introduced to Oxford street to allow pedestrians to cross in all directions, with the aid of a giant white X on the tarmac. Around every 90 seconds, all four sets of traffic lights at the intersection of Oxford Street and Regent Street turn red and pedestrians have 30 seconds to cross, with the hope of easing congestions by doubling the number of pedestrians who cross at any one time. At peak times, as many as 32,000 people cross each hour. The crossing was modelled on Tokyo’s Shibuya crossing. “This project is a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old-fashioned common sense,” said Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. “The head-scratching frustration caused by the previous design is over and we’ve brought one of the world’s greatest crossroads into the 21st century.”
The Times reports, however, that most pedestrians continued to cross as they always had done, from east to west, north or south. Source: The Times, 3 November 2009. tinyurl.com/y8pkzaz
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