Oxford Street to be pedestrianised by 2020

[Lord Camomile]

There have been loads of internal studies at TfL on the topic. They don't have *a* plan, they have loads and they just need to choose one.

Hey, stop stepping on my razor sharp satire!

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Divert the buses and shit from a tourist hellhole street and in to the heart of Mayfair? Really?

Surely the answer would be to not have so many bus routes converge on Oxford Street in the first place?

That's a good point. If you removed all the buses would it then become another car park full of stationary taxis & cars?

 

[se5]

Also, apart from maybe Selfridges, Oxford St doesn't have anything of note these days that you couldn't get elsewhere in a much less stressful environment. There are nuff crap tacky shops selling phone cases and cheap bags, the rest is just what you'd find in any medium size town. Even the massive HMV which used to be a mecca for me in the 90s is gone, now a Sports Direct. And the lure of lure Tottenham Court Rd's electronics stores, and Soho's record stores are a distant memory as they've all but gone too.

But I guess thats part of the plan - if they pedestrianise they can make a better environment in which to shop which in turn will attract more people. Hopefully the council (or whoever manages it) will have scope to ensure that there is a good range of shops in terms of types and sizes

 

[Pickman's model]

But I guess thats part of the plan - if they pedestrianise they can make a better environment in which to shop which in turn will attract more people. Hopefully the council (or whoever manages it) will have scope to ensure that there is a good range of shops in terms of types and sizes

probably the new west end company or the oxford street association

 

[se5]

How about reviving Ken's Oxford Street tram idea? Ken: I will replace buses in Oxford St with trams

 

[skyscraper101]

But I guess thats part of the plan - if they pedestrianise they can make a better environment in which to shop which in turn will attract more people. Hopefully the council (or whoever manages it) will have scope to ensure that there is a good range of shops in terms of types and sizes

Yes that's largely the point I was making. Ox St. couldn't be much worse these days so pedestrianisation could be a good thing.

 

[Lurdan]

Yes that's largely the point I was making. Ox St. couldn't be much worse these days so pedestrianisation could be a good thing.

Rather depends how the new open space is designed in terms of pedestrian flow. Have you tried pushing a buggy through a big railway station concourse at rush hour ? (Or toward the entrances to the underground at Oxford Circus at rush hour ?) Done badly it might very well be worse than at present.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Oxford street seems to me to be even more crowded than it ever has been. I don't really know why, but it is.

I've been around there when marches have been on and the road closed and it is considerably better. I support pedestrianisation there in general, but obviously it needs to be done in a way that still makes it accessible, as people have mentioned.

 

[skyscraper101]

People forget traders need access to Dixons

 

[DJWrongspeed]

This is what it should be like but with a tram. Kärntner Straße in Vienna.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

 

[hot air baboon]

There are nuff crap tacky shops selling phone cases and cheap bags, the rest is just what you'd find in any medium size town.

there's a Tesla shop down there with a Tesla car sitting in it.....with not much room for anything else......bit incongruous alongside the rows of tat merchants

How about reviving Ken's Oxford Street tram idea?

....pfft....19th century technology - lets embrace the 1950's....

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

 

[Crispy]

There was a semi-serious proposal for an elevated suspension railway in London a few years ago. There was a video for it and everything. Can't find it now.

 

[hot air baboon]

...you won't be jumping off between stops like on the Routemaster though...

 

[Winot]

Yeah that too. There's something like 15 routes that go down Oxford Street

Could you not terminate all those routes at the point at which they enter/exit Oxford St and then have a simple shuttle service going up and down Oxford St to link them? That should be feasible with the hopper ticket being introduced.

Or is it too much of a problem turning the buses round?

 

[Crispy]

Could you not terminate all those routes at the point at which they enter/exit Oxford St and then have a simple shuttle service going up and down Oxford St to link them? That should be feasible with the hopper ticket being introduced.

Or is it too much of a problem turning the buses round?

It's a safe bet to assume that this is exactly what they'll do (with a handful of routes continuing to run through on the parallel roads). The hopper will make it all possible, but they'll have to build a pretty big bus station at either end to do the transfers. There's enough space at Marble Arch. At the other end you'd have to do it on the loop round Cetrepoint

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

They could turn Marble Arch in to a bus turntable, like this one for trains:

And make it out of Lego too

 

[Pickman's model]

It's a safe bet to assume that this is exactly what they'll do (with a handful of routes continuing to run through on the parallel roads). The hopper will make it all possible, but they'll have to build a pretty big bus station at either end to do the transfers. There's enough space at Marble Arch. At the other end you'd have to do it on the loop round Cetrepoint

hopefully trapping the residents inside.

 

[Pickman's model]

Rather depends how the new open space is designed in terms of pedestrian flow. Have you tried pushing a buggy through a big railway station concourse at rush hour ? (Or toward the entrances to the underground at Oxford Circus at rush hour ?) Done badly it might very well be worse than at present.

don't worry, it will be done badly

 

[BigMoaner]

People forget traders need access to Dixons

post of the week.

 

[Artaxerxes]

View attachment 89690

Rest assured, there will be plenty of cocks on Oxford Street, and always will be.

 

[mather]

A better idea would be to pedestrianise Oxford Street and have a tunnel pass running parallel under it. That would benefit both pedestrians and drivers plus all the work needed to construct it would create new jobs too.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

A better idea would be to pedestrianise Oxford Street and have a tunnel pass running parallel under it. That would benefit both pedestrians and drivers plus all the work needed to construct it would create new jobs too.

I think CrossRail has been enough tunnelling thank you very much. It's taken out whole swathes of Oxford St. Enough is enough.

 

[pengaleng]

how are disabled people gonna get from one end to the other?

 

[hash tag]

I see this has popped up again and the consultation is open until Have your say on the transformation of Oxford Street - Transport for London - Citizen Space
https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s57754/Oxford Street.pdf
Living streets say a ped is hit once every 6 days! Consultation on Oxford Street pedestrianisation begins
It is only for the Western end of Oxford St. I wonder, should it be for the entire length and would it be an idea to have a tram, no other transport, running down the middle.
It will piss off the good neighbours of Wigmore Street and the like but it has to be a good thing.

 

[Crispy]

They're aiming for Christmas 2018 for an early opening of the intitial Western section (Oxford Circus to Selfridges/M&S). Just in time for Elizabeth Line Crossrail. No extensive paving works, as you can tell in the concept images, but one step closer to:

This is what it should be like but with a tram. Kärntner Straße in Vienna.

Buses will be rerouted via Wigmore Street and Cavendish Square

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I went to the Royal Parks Half Marathon last month and so was around that area particularly the Marble Arch corner. I suppose there were a few road closures nr Buckingham Palace but nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway traffic was choka. The point being that all these schemes rely on there being less traffic in the area.

I'm really not sure how you achieve that? The people in those cars are people who just won't travel any other way if you get my drift. Closing some streets will simply push traffic elsewhere or will they simply avoid the area and that's not really the idea beind the scheme. They want more shoppers to compete with Westfield/Online.

 

[Pickman's model]

how are disabled people gonna get from one end to the other?

Hop along no doubt

 

[Crispy]

I went to the Royal Parks Half Marathon last month and so was around that area particularly the Marble Arch corner. I suppose there were a few road closures nr Buckingham Palace but nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway traffic was choka. The point being that all these schemes rely on there being less traffic in the area.

I'm really not sure how you achieve that? The people in those cars are people who just won't travel any other way if you get my drift. Closing some streets will simply push traffic elsewhere or will they simply avoid the area and that's not really the idea beind the scheme. They want more shoppers to compete with Westfield/Online.

teuchter could you please counter this on my behalf; I'm a bit busy. Thank you.