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Oxford Circus will continue to have vehicles |
‘We won’t drive out Oxford Street cars’
Mayor’s plans for pedestrianisation are blocked
OXFORD Street will not be pedestrianised, the council has ruled, in the latest twist over the future of the West End’s prime shopping street.
Last week the council unveiled plans to widen pavements and create “al fresco oases” along the street – in direct opposition to the Mayor of London’s proposals for full-scale pedestrianisation and the addition of a tram service should he be re-elected in May.
Speaking at the launch of a blueprint for the £40 million makeover, council leader Sir Simon Milton said a ban on vehicles was “unworkable”.
He said: “Wholesale pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is totally unworkable. Our plans make the West End more pedestrian friendly, while ensuring it retains its vibrancy and excitement which sets it apart from cloned malls.”
Under the Oxford, Regent and Bond Street Action Plan (ORB), pavements will be widened and a column of mast lights will be installed along the north side of the street.
More controversially the plans feature a crackdown on sandwich-board holders and charity collectors – banishing them from the street under new rules that will be introduced in May.
Although the plans do not ban buses and taxis, they do call on Transport for London to minimise traffic on the choked street, by reducing the number of buses on the route. At its busiest section more than 220 buses an hour pass through.
The New West End Company, which represents businesses on the street, has given the plans its ringing endorsement.
The company’s chief executive Richard Dickinson said: “We feel that regeneration of the area should be based on the principle of achieving high levels of sustainability, both in terms of buildings and the transport and servicing arrangements that underpin it.”
Westminster has the final say on the future of the street, which they aim to have completed in time for the 2012 Olympics. |
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