Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Los Angeles

Streetfilms: The Pedestrian Scramble Returns to L.A.

Clarence Eckerson's newest Streetfilm captures the bustle of pedestrians and cyclists using diagonal crosswalks near the USC campus. It's entrancing footage, even without the benefit of time-lapsed film. LADOT recently added 10 of these crossings around the metro area, but as Clarence discovered in the course of making the video, the "pedestrian scramble" isn't completely novel to L.A.:

...as it turns out, this new idea is something old. Thanks to some nifty sleuthing, Eric Richardson of blogdowntown uncovered the fact that the downtown L.A. area was once littered with two dozen diagonal crosswalks in the late 1950s.Removed in 1958 because a city engineer's report found they impeded cartraffic flow, the lesson is obvious: let's not wait another fifty yearsto deploy a tool to keep pedestrians safe.

And if you want to watch something that now seems extra silly, we did something fun on Barnes Dances early in the year. You have been warned.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

NYPD’s Push To Criminalize Cycling Spells Trouble For Immigrant Workers

Safety for the community? Great. But aren't delivery workers part of the community, too?

May 9, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Habemus Knicksum Edition

It was a big day yesterday, but we're not on the sports or the religion desk, so let's get to our news.

May 9, 2025

Friday Video: Who Ruined Outdoor Dining?

We sent our own video team to find out.

May 9, 2025

Decision 2025: Mayoral Hopefuls Discuss E-Bikes … With Joy and Concern

E-bikes are a vital tool for delivery workers and for people seeking to reduce their use of private cars. What would you do to both expand e-bike use and make streets safer? And the answers are...

Live from Albany: Hochul’s ‘Safety’ Measures Stripped from Budget

Lawmakers dropped three initiatives that Gov. Hochul said would have made roadways safer (though, as we'll see, that's very much in question). Let's review them.

May 9, 2025
See all posts