The Centennial Street and Lakeshore Drive intersection is changing to a pedestrian scramble crossing to improve safety.
The Town announced the decision on June 3 in a press release.
In a scramble intersection, pedestrians and vehicles are never in the intersection at the same time.
"It’s an intersection that stops all vehicles, including bikes, during an 'all red' rotation of lights. This allows pedestrians to safely cross in all directions—even diagonally—without the interference of turning cars," Engineering Services Manager Eric Boudreau said.
"Cars turning at intersections remain a leading cause of collisions with pedestrians and cyclists, often resulting in injury and even death. A scramble crosswalk allows pedestrians and vehicles to move through intersections more efficiently with a reduction of risk to both users.'
When the scramble intersection is put into place, vehicles will have to wait slightly longer at a red light, but vehicles, especially ones turning left, will be able to move through the intersection quicker, Boudreau said.
"The time gained by not having to wait for pedestrians to cross the street will be greater than the short amount of additional time they’ll need to wait at the red light, hence allowing the traffic to move through the area quicker and safer."
The scramble crosswalk will also only trigger if the pedestrian crossing button is pushed, he added.
"When the scramble crosswalk is active, vehicles are not to make right turns on red lights."
Some things to keep in mind about how scramble intersections work are:
- When all vehicles have a red light, pedestrians can cross in any direction, including diagonally
- During the all-red signal, vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, buses, and bikes, must stop
- Drivers do not turn on a red light on any corner
- Pedestrians' cross-all-way phase typically activates every third signal rotation
"It will take time for vehicular and pedestrian users to become accustomed to the new intersection. No matter what the signal says, we ask everyone to continue to exercise caution when using the intersection," Boudreau said.
"Town staff will be closely monitoring the intersection's operation, in conjunction with adjacent infrastructure and intersections, and assess if any modifications can be made to improve operations in the area."
While the scramble crosswalk is new for Sylvan Lake, it has been modelled based on similar scramble crosswalks in Alberta, including:
- Banff: Banff Ave. at Wolf St., Caribou St., and Buffalo St.
- Edmonton: Whyte Ave. at 105 St., Stony Plain Rd. at 152 St, Jasper Ave. at Rice Howard Way, 103 Ave. at 103 St., 104 Ave. at 104 St., and 105 Ave. at 105 St.
- Calgary: 3 St. SW at 2 SAve. and 3 Ave. SW
Construction on the new scramble intersection will begin on June 9 and is expected to be completed by June 13.
