You can cross all 4 directions at once at this new Vancouver crosswalk

The City of Vancouver is piloting a crosswalkdowntown that lets pedestrians cross in all four directions at once.

As of Thursday, the corners of Robson and Hornby streets will now be an "all-walk" crosswalk, allowingpedestrians to use all four crosswalks simultaneously, while all vehicle traffic isstopped bya red light.

It's part of the city's "Vision Zero" strategy to improve pedestrian safety and eliminate traffic-related deaths.

The city says, during a busy hour, about 2,500 pedestrians pass through the area, which includes a permanent plaza in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery that's under development.

The all-walk crosswalk differs from a scramblecrosswalk, which lets pedestrians cross diagonally.

The city opted out of thatoption because of the traffic that turns left from Robson on to Hornby.

"We didn't want to have pedestrians cross and think that they can cross diagonally when there's a vehicle turning," said Winston Chou, manager of traffic and data management with the City of Vancouver.

Chousaida scramble crosswalk is still possible, but it would mean closing the south crosswalk or stopping pedestrians from crossing as cars turn left from Robson.

City staff will analyze the traffic impact over the next few months.

The city is considering installing the same crosswalk soon at the intersection of Howe and Robson. Chou said they'll consider other spots with high pedestrian volume and turning conflicts.

The Robson-Hornby intersection is also now outfitted with accessible pedestrian signals, which include audio cues that guide blind or partly blind people to the pole's push button.