A flashing countdown has been added to the lights on Tauranga's first Barnes Dance on the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Devonport Road.

The flashing countdown was installed on Wednesday and is intended to give pedestrians assurance that they can still make it across the road, says Tauranga City Council traffic engineer Martin Parkes.

The countdown in action at the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Devonport Road.

'It's basically to give people a bit of reassurance about the amount of time they have got to still make their crossing,” says Martin.

'I gives them confidence to get across the road and not feel rushed.
'It's a thing you generally put in where you have a large number of pedestrian movements at an intersection.

'Just lets the pedestrians know that they have got plenty of time to get across the road.”
Elderly pedestrians in particular are prone to a little panic when the ‘red man' starts flashing, says Martin.
'The countdown timer gives that visual clue that they have more than enough time to make the crossing safely.”
The council is monitoring the crossing and pedestrians seem to be more relaxed crossing the road.
'I was watching yesterday and it seems people seem to be more relaxed crossing the road, there's not that rush that we used to get.”
The countdown lights are installed on Tauranga's first Barnes Dance or pedestrian scramble, which was installed earlier this year.
A Barnes Dance is named after Colorado traffic engineer Henry Barnes, credited with introducing the system in the 1940s.
A Barnes Dance stops all vehicle traffic, allowing pedestrians to cross in all directions at the same time.

The first Barnes Dance in New Zealand became a feature of pedestrian traffic on intersections on Auckland's Queen Street in the late 1950s.