TfL and the Mayor of London have launched a public consultation about the future of Oxford Street — including plans to pedestrianise it.
Front and centre is the idea of setting up a new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), a dedicated authority to oversee Oxford Street, which would have the necessary powers to support the transformation of the area. The exact area the MDC would cover is shown on this map, including the entire length of Oxford Street between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road, and nearby side streets.
What would that transformation look like? Pedestrianisation plans are the main focus. TfL states:
The Mayor considers that there is a compelling case for the phased pedestrianisation of Oxford Street to create a more attractive local environment and improve the quality and use of the public realm.
The initial phase would see vehicles banned between Oxford Circus and Orchard Street (the road which runs along the western side of Selfridges), while "public realm improvements" would be made "to areas of the street which would take longer to pedestrianise", such as the section of the street east of Oxford Circus.
How exactly the pedestrianisation would happen hasn't been decided yet, and would be subject to further proposals and consultations, though TfL admits that "there would be a need to divert some or all sections of the existing bus routes along Oxford Street". Currently eight daytime and nine night bus routes serve the street (including our favourite way to see London's Christmas lights). Whether taxis and cyclists would still be able to use Oxford Street is still up in the air, and provisions for delivery vehicles to visit businesses on Oxford Street continue to be considered.
Comparisons to soon-to-be-party-pedestrianised Fifth Avenue in New York and the Champs-Élysées in Paris (which is pedestrianised one Sunday a month) feature at least twice in the consultation website. While that all sounds very optimistic for a street which currently has several empty stores and more than its fair share of candy shops, the idea is to make it a more appealing place to visit, which it's hoped in turn will lure retailers back, and rejuvenate the area.
The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street isn't a new idea. When first elected in 2016, Sadiq Khan had plans to make it traffic-free by 2020, but Westminster Council put the kibosh on that when it pulled out of the plans two years later. The idea never really went away, rearing its head again in various guises over the intervening years. Today's plans aren't yet much clearer than those thrown around in late 2018 but the launch of the public consultation is the clearest indication yet that pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is going ahead one way or another.
The public consultation runs 28 February-2 May 2025. Have your say here.
In late February 2025, it was announced that Camden High Street will be pedestrianised in an 18-month trial, with buses and vehicles diverted along a nearby alternative route.
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