Alpharetta to activate new ‘pedestrian scramble’ crosswalk

Assuming the weather cooperates, Alpharetta will have crews on hand 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 17 to paint the crosswalk markers at the intersection of Milton Avenue and Roswell/Canton Street for the new “pedestrian scramble” crosswalk. In the event of rain from Tropical Storm Fred, the work will be rescheduled for the following evening or the evening of August 24.

The new pedestrian traffic signal will stop all vehicular movement to allow pedestrians to cross in any direction at the intersection, including diagonally. Alpharetta’s pedestrian scramble will work a bit differently from the standard pattern. Instead of stopping traffic in every direction each time, pedestrians will have the option of pressing a button to activate a pedestrian signal to cross a single street or pressing a different button to stop all traffic and cross the intersection diagonally.

“The two-button option we have implemented for our pedestrian scramble enables us to avoid stopping all vehicular movement when pedestrians only need to cross a single street in the traditional way,” said Pete Sewczwicz, Alpharetta’s Director of Public Works.