The temporary road crossing

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

The roadworks had moved the crossing twenty metres from its usual place. Orange barriers made a narrow corridor along the pavement, and arrows instructed us to walk away from the shops before we could return towards them. The route was perfectly clear and faintly absurd. I followed a woman with a pushchair through three turns that seemed to have been designed by somebody testing our commitment to reaching the other side.

Cars waited behind cones in a patient queue. Pedestrians were less orderly, arriving from different directions and pausing to interpret the signs. A man stepped towards the old crossing, stopped and retreated, as though his feet had received information his eyes had not yet approved. The familiar street had become a set of instructions. Every ordinary movement required reading, and every hesitation made somebody behind adjust their pace.

At the temporary lights, a worker raised a hand to let a delivery lorry pass. Then he waved us through. His small gesture was easier to understand than all the arrows. I reached the shops without difficulty, but with a new respect for the unnoticed knowledge that normally carries us across a familiar road. The barriers had interrupted more than the shortest route; they had interrupted the luxury of not having to think about it.

Refer to the whole of Source A. Analyse how the writer uses language to convey the disruption caused by the altered crossing. Explain the effects of specific words, phrases and language choices, using evidence from the passage.