Pedestrians do the ‘Barnes Dance’ in Washington D.C.
By Carol Tannenhauser
“What will it take for the City to do something about its most dangerous intersections?” demanded City Council Member Helen Rosenthal last month, speaking at one of them – West 96th Street and West End Avenue.
On Wednesday, the City Council responded by unanimously passing Rosenthal’s legislation requiring the Department of Transportation “to study outfitting intersections with a pedestrian-exclusive signal phase,” according to a statement from Rosenthal’s office. “This is sometimes called a ‘Barnes Dance,’ which allows pedestrians to cross the street while vehicle traffic in all directions is at a full stop, so there’s no chance of a turning car hitting a pedestrian.” They will also be able to cross the street diagonally once all cars are stopped.
“The Barnes Dance lost favor with street engineers in the 1960’s because planning for cars took precedence,” Rosenthal said. “My bill seeks to reverse that, placing pedestrians at the center of policy making on street design, exactly where they should be. The Barnes Dance isn’t going to be appropriate at every intersection, but this analysis will help us identify where it is.”
West 96th and West End Avenue seems a good candidate. “While the West End Avenue redesign has meant a much safer West End Avenue,” according to Rosenthal’s website, “pedestrian injuries have persisted at its intersection with 96th Street. In fact, while total annual injuries along West End Avenue (excluding 96th Street) dropped from 15 in 2013 to 3 in 2016, the reverse has happened at 96th Street. Injuries at this intersection have increased from 3 in 2013 to 10 in 2016.”
Rosenthal’s bill will undoubtedly become law. While it requires the Mayor’s signature, any veto can be overturned by a 2/3s majority. The legislation passed 49-0.
There’ll be Barnes Dancing in the streets soon!
See a video below about the Barnes Dance in Washington D.C.
Excellent!
congratulations Helen Rosenthal, and thank you for all your hard work on this issue.
Go Helen, your leadership is appreciated
Great move ! While running errands on UWS this morning, I encountered a few instance where cars were turning when I was in the middle of a crosswalk and had the walk sign.
Actually, if you are crossing in the same direction the car can completely legally make a turn into your line of march. I.E. you are walking south on WEA and you cross 96th street, while a car going south on WEA turns to go west on 96th street. This is completely legal and should remain so.
It is currently completely legal, though many of those drivers will fail to yield to the pedestrian and force the pedestrian to change tack / pause or backtrack to safety.
And I do acknowledge that often peds don’t have the light and they still cross and block the road for cars.
Pedestrians will continue to ignore the light signals and put themselves in danger. Dedicated left turn lanes (like the ones at 96th St) are particularly dangerous because pedestrians see the cars that aren’t turning stop and assume they can walk, not realizing left-turners have a dedicated arrow.
This “Barnes Dance” exists in a modified form on 66th & Columbus and pedestrians (including me) still walk on red lights. This is New York – you can’t will away all dangers and accidents.
I wait for the green to cross Columbus at 66th and on several occasions have been yelled at by cyclists who start going just as I step off the curb. They seem to feel I should have crossed on red so that they can go when the pedestrians get the walk signal. Maybe if we have more Barnes dances everyone will understand the patterns and behave accordingly.
It is important to remember that laws exist to protect everyone, and just because some people choose not to use that protection doesnt mean others wont benefit.
Long story short, just because some people cross without a signal doesnt mean that everyone does not deserve to have a safer way to cross. Far too many people have died crossing streets, and any death is too many.
The continuous attempt at “protecting” pedestrians will only work if pedestrians adhere to traffic lights. Great idea if red lights mean DO NOT CROSS and do not encroach. Remain in the sidewalk. Wait for walk sign!!!
I agree. I think that traffic enforcement officials should also be vigorously enforcing penalties against pedestrians who get in the way of cars. I do not drive often but as a pedestrian I frequently see people walking in front of a car when the car has a green light. And half the time this is because the pedestrian is looking at their phone.
Thank you, Helen, and the other 48 members of the City Council for prioritizing the safety of pedestrians in NYC and helping the city move further into the 21st century.
Makes so much sense. Kudos to Ms. Rosenthal.
Bicyclists will still ignore the trafiic signals at this intersection. Perhaps cops on bikes can chase these lawbreakers (I know – only in my dreams).
I’ve crossed 96th and West End almost every weekday for the past 7 years as it’s on my route to work and my child’s school. We cross heading south on the west side of the street. I am pretty scared of this intersection so I absolutely always adhere to the crossing light, but I’ve still been nearly hit at least a handful of times by drivers turning into the crosswalk. I’ve also had two drivers scream out their windows at me on separate occasions – one yelled “hurry up!” and the other yelled “Jerk!” after I stopped in the crosswalk to pick up a toy my baby threw from the stroller. This was all as I was passing correctly with the light. So I am relieved to hear that this might be made safer!
Actually, if you are crossing in the same direction the car can completely legally make a turn into your line of march. I.E. you are walking south on WEA and you cross 96th street, while a car going south on WEA turns to go west on 96th street. This is completely legal and should remain so.
I don’t know how many parents start crossing with there kids after the light starts blinking don’t walk and get caught in the middle of the street. I see this every day from my windows.
It is legal for the car to turn but the pedestrians have the right of way. Drivers can be ticketed for failure to yield. With Barnes dances this won’t be legal. The pedestrians will be crossing while no cars are driving in any direction.
In my experience it works well. I was living in Baltimore when Traffic Commissioner Henry Barnes put it into operation there. He had previously developed it in Denver when he was Commissioner in that City. I moved back to NYC from Baltimore about the same time that Barnes did and I recall it worked well here too. Unfortunately, NYC drivers have gotten more aggressive and more careless over the years, so I hope they have the patience to allow the pedestrians to live.
This is great news! We desperately need a congestion tax for vehicles in the city like London did. It’s been very successful.
At the heart of all of our current political debates lies one central tenet of freedom: The pedestrian right of way.
Thank you for safeguarding this sacred right.
Now if you could just get Trump to resign.
The Bikes is the bigger problems than the Motorized Vehicles for they know not the traffic stop, nor does law enforcement care.
The data proves you wrong but don’t let the facts get in your way.
Food delivery people completely unchecked.
Yes pedestrians do and should have the right of way. BUT that does not include times when the pedestrian is at fault. Meaning if you cross on a red light and get hit the driver will not be charged. I don’t know how many parents start crossing with there kids after the light starts blinking don’t walk and get caught in the middle of the street. I see this every day from my windows. The last “fix” on WEA the big redesign in 2014 is crap and is causing more problems than it solved. WEA is backed up to its start on 107 every morning, with traffic block all crosstown intersections. hen they put the traffic island in at 97-96 st on wea they made it impossible for the crosstown bus to make the turn. To solve this they shortly afterword’s removed the parking on the west side of the street to allow the bus to make the turn. But this newly created “right hand turn lane” as DOT refers to means that cars making the turn onto 96th street to enter the highway make that turn right at the curb line. The majority of parents and/or students “cheat” the crossing standing in what they don’t seem to get is now a DOT mandated travel lane. Everyday parents see the light blinking red and hurry to cross with their kids. This will do nothing to fix the problem overall.
All the previous work done at “problem” intersects have just moved the issue from one intersection to another. A lot of work has been done to address this same issue at 96 & B’way, they massively diverted traffic onto wea. Surprise – traffic decreased on B’way as did the number of accidents, while the traffic increased on WEA as did the number of accidents. This also happened on Amsterdam and 96/95 since the B’way change.
It is a free for all on the streets because pedestrians totally ignore walk and don’t walk signs. While driving you have to roll through an intersection because someone is bound to dart out. And this includes women with baby carriages. How about governing pedestrian behavior while webare at it. Oh and bikes that NEVER obey traffic rules. Just saw a delivery guy get hit because he went through the light going the wrong way on Amsterdam.
Thank you Robert for seeing the traffic congestion problem in its entirety. I see no reason for West End Avenue to continue to be a one lane each direction avenue. If the 97th Street and RSD entrance to the north bound WS Highway were reopened and WEA returned to the 2 lanes in both directions, we would not have the massive backups and horn honking daily. Barnes Dance at this intersection could help. Who knows. We’ll see in time. Broadway at 96th continues to be a huge traffic problem. Two lanes instead of three above 96th all the way past 101st Street and DOT has created Mid-town traffic conditions where we never had them before. Same thing at 72nd and Broadway.
I think it’s time for even or odd number plates to come into Manhattan, like in the gas shortage days or Manhattan registrant plates only allowed. (Especially for street parking: I don’t have a car).
Thank you Helen for your work in council on passing the Barnes Dance initiative. I’m on CB4, Transportation Committee and we’ve been advocating the all traffic stop at busy intersections mid town west for 10 years. By the PA at 8Av/W42St., 9Av/42 in particular. In this age of Vision Zero, the Mayor must support this. For too long the NYCDOT has favoured traffic over pedestrian safety!
Martin Treat, co-Founder along with Christine Berthet of CHEKPEDS
I wish I could hear something about controlling bicycle traffic, too. As a pedestrian, I am more afraid of them than autos.
Better to support pedestrians than all the law-breaking we-want-more, more more bicyclists than have taken over the city. Now if someone would just support drivers a little and stop eliminating parking spaces.