A pedestrian scramble that stops traffic in every direction at once is called a Barnes Dance.
The name honors American traffic engineer Henry Barnes and also evokes the image of people dancing in a street. During this exclusive pedestrian interval, all vehicle movements are stopped while pedestrians may cross in multiple directions, including diagonally where the intersection layout permits. The arrangement is also known as a pedestrian scramble or, in some places, a Barnes Shuffle.
Barnes did not claim to invent the underlying idea. Similar scrambles were being tested in Kansas City and Vancouver in the late 1940s, and Barnes promoted the system while serving as a traffic official in cities including Denver, Baltimore, and New York. In New York, he helped introduce a prominent scramble at Vanderbilt Avenue and 42nd Street soon after becoming traffic commissioner in 1962.
The design can reduce conflicts between turning vehicles and pedestrians, but it lengthens signal cycles and may increase vehicle delays. That trade-off explains why some cities removed scrambles while others later restored them as walking and safety priorities changed.