former location of a scramble intersection at 3rd St and Van Buren

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"Pedestrian Scramble" sounds like the unfortunate result of street design that favors cars over people, but it's actually the opposite. Scramble intersections stop traffic in all directions simultaneously so that pedestrians can cross in a single diagonal motion rather than in a combination of two perpendicular motions. They're not appropriate everywhere, but the design can make sense at busy intersections where observations of pedestrian behavior show large volumes of people crossing in a "catty-corner" fashion.

Phoenix tried a scramble intersection over a decade ago at Third Street and Van Buren. At the time, the Arizona Center was still thriving, so it was not uncommon to see large numbers of pedestrians flowing between that complex on the northeast corner and various cultural venues near the southwest corner. Dinner at Sam's Cafe and a show at the Herberger or Symphony Hall was made a little easier by an opportunity to cross the intersection diagonally.

Unfortunately, the scramble intersection was discontinued after a few years. I never found out why. Maybe it was due to the decline of the Arizona Center, or maybe the Street Transportation Department succumbed to a default traffic engineering philosophy that values motorists over pedestrians. Regardless of the reason, it was disappointing to see the City take a step back from this bold experiment in putting pedestrians first at an intersection.

Scramble intersections should be reconsidered and piloted in selected locations with heavy pedestrian traffic. Another try at Third Street and Van Buren might be appropriate as part of a broader revival of the Arizona Center, but not all scramble intersections have to be Downtown. Central and Camelback, located several miles to the north in Uptown, would be a strong candidate for scramble due to the volume of pedestrians crossing catty-corner when transferring among light rail and various bus lines.