Two more ‘scrambled crossings’ will be turned on in the Hobart CBD this morning, enabling pedestrians to walk in all directions on a green light.
The switch follows an initial trial of two crossings at both ends of the Elizabeth Street Mall and will see the way the intersections of Murray and Liverpool Streets and Murray and Collins Streets work.
The City of Hobart and the Department of State Growth say the new additions to the trial are hoped to provide “further pedestrian and vehicle safety and amenity improvements” for people in the city.
“There will be a new traffic signal phase where the traffic signals in both directions will display a green ‘walking’ signal for pedestrians, and red lights in all directions for vehicle traffic,” the City of Hobart say.
“This will make it safer and easier for pedestrians to cross the intersections in all directions, with no interaction with vehicle traffic.”
During the green light phase for vehicle traffic, a red ‘don’t walk’ signal will display for all pedestrians, meaning cars will not have to wait for pedestrian traffic during their green light phase.
The Department of State Growth are continuing to monitor and review the trials, which have been running for around 5 weeks already and may be made permanent if successful.
Many road users support the new crossings, however some drivers attempting to turn right onto Liverpool Street from Elizabeth Street have called for the traffic light cycle to revert back to how it was.
“Hope the lights [at the intersection] allow more than 3 cars to get through … so frustrating,” one motorist wrote online.
Another called the idea “ridiculous” and said that he has ‘never seen anyone cross diagonally’ at the Elizabeth and Liverpool Street intersection.
“The traffic is often backed up past Brisbane Street. As if getting out of the city in peak hour wasn’t bad enough. Please put it back to how it was.”
