Crosswalk design considerations

So yesterday, as I slowed down in the bike lane behind a long line of cars, so as to maneuver between them better, I started thinking about this problem of cars driving in the bike lane and the general traffic congestion. At I got closer to the arch in Chinatown, it dawned on me...

We need to improve the pedestrian crossing if we want to avoid this particular bottleneck at the entrance to the Chinatown metro stop. Due to such heavy pedestrian traffic, it is impossible for these cars and buses to turn left or right at this intersection until the light has turned yellow...or red. So all the other cars are scrambling to get around the stopped traffic, or waiting their turn in line and that's why we have such a problem in this section of the road.

One solution might be to intall a new system and re-paint the crosswalk to convert it to a light that has a four-way stop where pedestrians can cross in all directions--even diagonally. And when the cars have a green light, pedestrians cannot cross. San Diego has a couple of these intersections. It's the only city I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are others. Here is a mediocre picture...



In this picture, you can see the sign that says Diagonal Crossing is OK: