[0m1cr0n]

I think what you're describing is a "scamble" crosswalk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble

They're a nice way of balancing foot traffic with the need for vehicles to turn at a light. I'm not sure why they're not more popular around the world.

[wahsd]

Not quite. I was thinking of a single crossing. At least in the US at many intersections the pedestrian light is synced with the parallel car traffic, which leads to a stream of people blocking right turn traffic due to a constant stream. I am talking about building in a batch iteration, e.g., during the green light, there is a flashing yellow that requires pedestrians to stop for 5 seconds, which would cause pedestrians crossing to group together and creating gaps during which cars can turn.

[aestra]

> I'm not sure why they're not more popular around the world

Because they tend to prioritize pedestrian traffic.

[wahsd]

Can't have those poor people taking over our streets, now can we? Feet don't make rich people money, cars do.