The Oxford Street pedestrianisation will begin on 26 October, the Mayor of London has confirmed, with buses, taxis, bikes and all other traffic banned from almost a kilometre of the West End’s most famous shopping street.
Sadiq Khan said the traffic-free stretch will run from Orchard Street to Great Portland Street, closing one of Europe’s busiest retail thoroughfares to vehicles for the first time under plans to turn the area into a pedestrian plaza.
“Following strong support from Londoners and businesses, I’m excited to see my bold vision for Oxford Street really coming to life next month as we start going traffic-free, just in time for the busy Christmas shopping period,” Mr Khan said.
“I’m delighted that on 26 October the transformation of the nation’s high street into a pedestrian plaza will begin in earnest – a world-class space where flagship retail will sit alongside next-generation workplaces, designed to host exciting retail and leisure experiences from sport to fashion and cultural events in the future.”
The change will be introduced on a temporary basis, City Hall said, with new seating and street furniture installed as a trial so data and feedback can be gathered on how people use the space before designs for permanent changes are drawn up. Transport for London will work with the Oxford Street Development Corporation on new safety measures for the area.
Westminster City Council said it still had “a long list of unanswered questions about how it will work” and warned that traffic could be pushed onto small streets nearby.
Councillor Tim Barnes, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for growth and planning, said: “While we finally now have a timetable for the proposed pedestrianisation, Westminster City Council, residents and businesses on Oxford Street still have a long list of unanswered questions about how it will work.”
“If this is going to be the ‘greener, better and more prosperous’ success that the Mayor has promised, then issues around access, air pollution, street cleaning and public safety need answers urgently,” he said. “Right now there’s a danger that we will have all of the downsides and too little upside. Traffic will be pushed to the small streets nearby causing economic and environmental harm.”
Mr Barnes said the council was writing to the Oxford Street Development Corporation with its “serious concerns”, adding that it was “obvious the Mayor is rushing preparations with little time left”.
The council has previously accused the Mayor of “cheating the system” by circumventing the need for a full environmental impact assessment – a claim rejected by the Mayor and the government.
Tested at the busiest time of the retail year
The decision to start going traffic-free just weeks before Christmas means the experiment will face its sternest test during the festive shopping rush, when Oxford Street’s pavements are at their most crowded.
Supporters argue that is precisely the point. A pedestrianised street can absorb far more shoppers than one where crowds are squeezed onto narrow pavements between buses and taxis, and the Christmas period will give City Hall its clearest picture yet of how the space copes at peak demand.
Retailers and hospitality businesses, many of whom backed the plans, will be watching footfall and takings closely through December. The temporary seating and street furniture installed for the trial are designed to be flexible, allowing officials to adjust the layout in response to how shoppers actually use the space before any permanent scheme is fixed.
For visitors, the practical effect is simple: from 26 October, the stretch between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street becomes a place to walk, browse and linger, rather than one to navigate around traffic. Buses and taxis that currently use the street will be diverted onto surrounding roads, and cyclists will need to find alternative routes.
A battle years in the making
The announcement marks the end – for now – of one of the longest-running sagas in London politics. Successive mayors have promised a traffic-free Oxford Street, only to see the plans stall amid opposition from Westminster City Council under both Labour and Conservative administrations.
The current scheme follows years of argument between City Hall and the Town Hall over who controls the street’s future, including a row over whether the plans required a full environmental impact assessment.
City Hall watchers see the project as a potential legacy moment for Mr Khan as he weighs whether to seek a fourth term. After years of pledges, the traffic really is about to be banished – at least from almost a kilometre of it, and at least for now.
Transport for London and the Oxford Street Development Corporation will now race to have safety measures, signage and the temporary street layout in place for 26 October, with data from the trial feeding into the design of whatever comes next.
