You Can Now Cross The Street Diagonally At Hollywood And Highland

The pedestrian scramble is in full effect at the Hollywood and Highland intersection, hopefully making things safer for pedestrians at one of L.A.'s most crowded and dangerous intersections.

The new pedestrian scramble opened at Hollywood and Highland yesterday afternoon with a performance from the Hollywood High School Marching, CBS LA reports.

A pedestrian scramble works by stopping all car traffic in all four directions, allowing pedestrians to cross the street in either a straight line or diagonally. Then, car traffic resumes. The scramble should slow down cars, and should ultimately make crossing safer for pedestrians. However, some have expressed concern that the scramble will cause backups for drivers and confusion for pedestrians.

The City will be monitoring the crosswalk to see if it works as expected and if so, they may implement such crosswalks elsewhere. When Mayor Eric Garcetti initially announced plans for the scramble, he also mentioned intersections including 7th St. and Flower, and Aliso and Alameda.

Hollywood and Highland has long been considered one of Los Angeles' most dangerous intersections for pedestrians, and it's certainly one of the most congested. Only last month, a person was hit crossing the street at this same intersection early in the morning. The woman who was driving drove with the victim on her hood after the crash and was arrested not far from the scene. The pedestrian suffered from broken bones, but survived.