Quote Originally Posted by Sid Burgess View Post
It's another one of those things OKC does and I don't see it elsewhere. Which always makes me wonder, why would someone do that on purpose?
It's pretty much the same in most places in Southern California.

One of the reasons is because if someone doesn't push the button, the light is shorter. In other words, pushing the walk button and getting the little white man means extending the time the corresponding traffic signal stays green to allow pedestrians plenty of time to make the crossing.

And, if the traffic signal is already green when you push the button, they make you wait for the next green cycle so you get that extra time.

I think this is all pretty common when you are dealing with wide streets to cross. I've seen it a bunch of places, but not so much in dense, urban cities.