Anything is possible in London. Anything, it seems, apart from the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.
For years, the concept of banning traffic from central London's pollution-choked shopping avenue has been dangled in front of Londoners' noses only to be snatched away again. But could Oxford Street finally be about to rid itself of motor traffic?
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, certainly hopes so. He has doubled down on his intentions to turn the thoroughfare — which welcomes over half a million visitors every day and generates approximately 5% of the capital’s economic output — into a 'traffic-free pedestrianised avenue', creating a 'beautiful public space'.
Khan says he will now create a 'Mayoral Development Corporation', which will have 'planning powers to provide the framework for delivery of a world-leading scheme that works for residents, visitors and businesses'. What precisely this scheme is, is unclear — there are no details on scope of the traffic ban, or when we might expect it to happen. Khan first mooted such a scheme in his 2016 mayoral manifesto. He wasn't the first.
Long time Londoners have every reason to view the latest announcement through skeptical eyes. In 2006, the first Mayor of London, Ken Livingston unveiled plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street (and run a tram through it), only for these plans to be spiked by London's next Mayor, Boris Johnson. Johnson himself looked into partially pedestrianising Oxford Street towards the end of his tenure as Mayor of London in 2016, but this also came to nought. In 2022, while Sadiq Khan himself was Mayor, plans for the stretch of Oxford Street between Great Portland Street and John Prince's Street to be turned into a 'piazza' were nixed.
Other car-quashing schemes touted for Oxford Street but never realised include a monorail, and designated fast and slow lanes for pedestrians.
So what's new this time? It helps that London's Labour Mayor now has a Labour government to back his vision. The City of Westminster, which oversees Oxford Street, is also now under a Labour majority. Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister has voiced her support, saying: "This plan to revitalise Oxford Street will drive growth by creating new jobs, generating economic activity, and giving a much-needed boost to London’s night-time economy." Whether this means something similar to the piazza idea, or altogether more sweeping pedestrianisation, we're not sure.
Whatever the plans. the challenges have not gone away, and Sadiq Khan will have to contend with everything from where to divert streams of traffic (including several bus routes), through to the potential reemergence of the likes of the Campaign Against Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street (CAPO).
Pedestrianisation in central London can be hugely successful though; Carnaby Street banned traffic in 1973, prompting a hike of 30% in footfall. The recent pedestrianisation of part of Strand has also revitalised that once traffic-choked corner — at least from the pedestrian's point of view.
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