Oxford Circus is to be turned into Italian-style piazza

Oxford Circus is to be turned into Italian-style piazza: Britain’s busiest pedestrian junction will see buses and taxis banned as London’s ‘High Street’ is cut in two

  • A 150-yard section of Oxford Street on either side of the junction will be closed to all vehicles by end of year 
  • Buses and taxis will be banned from John Prince’s Street in the west to Great Portland Street in the east
  • Private vehicles already prohibited from using Oxford Street from 8am to 8pm all week except Saturdays 

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Traffic will be banned from Oxford Circus as part of ‘radical’ new plans revealed today to turn Britain’s biggest pedestrian junction into an Italian-style piazza.

A 150-yard section of Oxford Street on either side of the junction will be closed to all vehicles by the end of the year, effectively cutting London’s main shopping street in two.

Buses and taxis will be banned from John Prince’s Street in the west to Great Portland Street in the east. Private cars, vans and lorries are already prohibited from using Oxford Street from 8am to 8pm all week except Saturdays.

The proposals, drawn up by Westminster Council and the Crown Estate, will still allow traffic along Regent Street but this will be ‘calmed’, including by introducing longer green phases at traffic lights.

A 150-yard section of Oxford Street on either side of the junction will be closed to all vehicles by the end of the year, effectively cutting London’s main shopping street in two. This image shows traffic still continuing on Regent Street 

Officials hope to make it safer and more pleasant for shoppers, tourists and office workers to use the 202-year-old intersection of Oxford Street and Regent Street, which is used by up to 40,000 pedestrians an hour.

However, some critics on Twitter raised concern that the scheme would hinder hard-pressed black cab drivers from going about their business and simply lead to traffic being diverted elsewhere.

The plans have not yet been priced, but are part of a wider £150 million initiative to attract more visitors into the West End after the pandemic.

Westminster City Council Leader Rachael Robathan said: ‘These new bold plans to reinvent Oxford Circus will see the first significant redesign of the nation’s favourite high street in decades,’ she said.

‘We hope the creation of these pedestrian-only piazzas at Oxford Circus, surrounded by newly planted trees and large seating areas, will instil much needed confidence in the West End and support local businesses severely affected by the pandemic.’

Officials plan to have finished the piazza and closed it off to traffic by the end of this year.

The final scheme will be chosen as part of a competition run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), which will invite entries from around the world.

Officials hope to make it safer and more pleasant for shoppers, tourists and office workers to use the 202-year-old intersection of Oxford Street and Regent Street, which is used by up to 40,000 pedestrians an hour

Officials hope to make it safer and more pleasant for shoppers, tourists and office workers to use the 202-year-old intersection of Oxford Street and Regent Street, which is used by up to 40,000 pedestrians an hour

Oxford Circus was redesigned in 2009 at a cost of £5 million to introduce the current format which sees pedestrians crossing diagonally across the busy junction.

However, these latest plans are far more radical and coincide with the delayed opening of the Elizabeth Line in 2022, which is set to bring tens of millions more visitors into the West End.

Westminster Council has already encouraged restaurants, pubs and bars to apply for permission for outdoor tables to make the area an ‘al fresco dining district’ during the pandemic.

The temporary measures were first introduced when lockdown restrictions eased in July last year, before being reintroduced when outdoor dining resumed in April.

More than 560 premises have been issued with pavement licences as part of a scheme that will extend to the end of September.

The council said it was ‘consulting’ local residents and businesses about what ‘longer-term plans for outdoor dining’ will look like. 

Some critics on Twitter raised concern that the scheme would hinder hard-pressed black cab drivers from going about their business and simply lead to traffic being diverted elsewhere. It coincides with the delayed opening of the Elizabeth Line in 2022 (pictured are Tune lines underneath Oxford Circus)

Some critics on Twitter raised concern that the scheme would hinder hard-pressed black cab drivers from going about their business and simply lead to traffic being diverted elsewhere. It coincides with the delayed opening of the Elizabeth Line in 2022 (pictured are Tune lines underneath Oxford Circus)