A stretch of Oxford Street will be closed to traffic from 26 October, LBC has reported, with vehicles barred from almost a kilometre between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street and diverted onto nearby roads. Oxford Street is one of the world's busiest shopping streets, with around half a million visitors a day.
The Mayor of London said the changes came "just in time for the busy Christmas shopping period." Transport for London will work with the Oxford Street Development Corporation to clean and declutter the street and install new safety measures, with works starting this week. The Mayor's office describes this first phase as temporary, so that "real-time data" can be gathered to inform permanent designs, with two new public squares, more than 100 seats, dining tables and over 50 new trees expected by the end of next spring.
Cllr Tim Barnes, Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council, said the Mayor was "rushing preparations." He 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 added:
"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. We are writing to the Oxford Street Development Corporation with our serious concerns now it is obvious the mayor is rushing preparations with little time left."
