A Toronto city councillor is asking for a review of the pedestrian scramble at Yonge and Dundas streets to find out if the impact on vehicular traffic outweighs the benefits for pedestrians.
Implemented in Toronto in 2008, the scrambles gives pedestrians a chance to cross the street diagonally once every signal cycle while vehicles are stopped in all directions.
Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong asked the city's public works committee to review the scramble because it causes additional delays for motorists, especially during busy commutes.
Drivers' wait times increased by a few minutes during the evening commute because of the scramble, a study found.
Minnan-Wong told the Toronto Star the extra wait is unacceptable.
"Four o'clock on any given day, all through the rush hour, you have cars that are stacked up almost all the way to University Ave. And for me, that's an arrangement that's not functioning properly," Minnan-Wong told the newspaper.
The intersection of Yonge and Dundas streets is one of Canada's busiest for pedestrians. It's bordered by Yonge-Dundas Square, Eaton Centre and more retail stores.
