Londoners “betrayed” as plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street scrapped
Register to get 1 more free article
Reveal the article below by registering for our email newsletter.
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
The mayor of London has described the shelving of plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street as a “betrayal of millions of Londoners”.
On Thursday 8 June, Westminster City Council decided to shelve the idea to turn the shopping district into a traffic-free zone and take it off the table “for good”.
On his Twitter, Khan wrote that the decision will be seen as a “betrayal to millions of Londoners” and said it posed a “real threat to the future of Oxford Street”.
Westminster Council's decision to pull the plug on Oxford Street pedestrianisation will be seen as a betrayal of the millions of Londoners & visitors to our city who would have benefited from making Oxford Street a safer & healthier environment. pic.twitter.com/ggTwDXHmfU
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 7, 2018
In response, the leader of the council, Nickie Aiken, wrote a letter to residents which said she could “confirm that the council [did] not support the full scale pedestrianisation of Oxford Street” and suggested a rethinking of the strategy was required.
She also said she needed to ensure that everyone could benefit and rejected Khan’s statement that it was a betrayal.
In December, Sadiq Khan proposed that the area would be fully pedestrianised by the end of this year between Orchard Street and Oxford Circus, including a rerouting of buses and cyclists being required to dismount. Taxi ranks were also expected to be widened.
In March, Transport for London (TfL) and Westminster City Council a consultation report found that of the 22,000 people asked, 48% were completely happy for the plans to go ahead and another 16% were happy despite having some concerns.
